


Can I Call You (Mine)?

by titanjaeger (oikawatooruisking)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunk Texting, Eren POV, Foul Language, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Now with angst apparently, POV Armin Arlert, Past Jean Kirstein/Eren Yeager, Platonic Armin/Annie, Side BertKasa, Side ReiAnnie, Slow Burn, Texting, Underage Drinking, Wrong Number AU, discontinued, this is just for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-08-31 05:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8566525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oikawatooruisking/pseuds/titanjaeger
Summary: I know there are like a million fics like this out there, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [new phone who dis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4974943) by [meruemsthighs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meruemsthighs/pseuds/meruemsthighs). 



> I know there are like a million fics like this out there, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

(Friday)

10:20 pm - Guess who I just saw  
10:20 pm - Fucking  
10:20 pm - Horse Face  
10:21 pm - I want to fucking punch him

10:21 pm - Ummm..

10:21 pm - He's out here parading his relationship with Marco  
10:22 pm - How does an angel even fall in love with a horse anyway??

10:22 pm - There must be some kind of all powerful mystic being working on his side I guess  
10:23 pm - BTW you have the wrong number

10:23 pm - EXACTLY  
10:23 pm - Wait.. What

10:23 pm - You have the wrong number  
10:24 pm - I think you must've meant this to be a conversation between you and Mikasa but I'm not her

10:24 pm - Okay  
10:24 pm - Wait you know Kasa?

10:25 pm - Yes  
10:25 pm - And now I know who you are  
10:25 pm - Wait that came out wrong  
10:26 pm - It's just that she told me that only one person calls her that  
10:26 pm - So you must be Eren  
10:26 pm - Oh god kill me please 

10:27 pm - Haha okay  
10:27 pm - So you know who I am  
10:27 pm - But who are you?

10:28 pm - I'm Armin  
10:28 pm - We go to the same college

10:29 pm - Okay yeah I've heard her talk about you before  
10:29 pm - I'm sorry I texted you instead of her

10:30 pm - Hah it's okay  
10:30 pm - I mean she changed her number recently right?  
10:30 pm - And our numbers are really close  
10:30 pm - So it's fine

10:32 pm - So are you from Baltimore or..?  
10:32 pm - Is that a creepy thing to ask?  
10:32 pm - Sorry

10:33 pm - Hah it's okay  
10:33 pm - Yes I am  
10:33 pm - Mikasa says you guys are from Louisiana right?

10:34 pm - Yeah  
10:34 pm - Well I'm actually from Germany and she's from France

10:35 pm - Germany?  
10:35 pm - Are you German?

10:35 pm - I'm German and Mexican

10:36 pm - Do you speak the languages?

10:36 pm - Just German  
10:36 pm - I never had the chance to learn Spanish

10:36 pm - Oh why not?

10:37 pm - My mom died before she could teach me

10:37 pm - Oh.. I'm so sorry  
10:37 pm - I shouldn't have asked

10:38 pm - It's fine  
10:38 pm - I feel like I'm about to pass out now so talk to you later?

10:39 pm - Oh umm  
10:39 pm - If you really want to

10:40 pm - Okay then!  
10:40 pm - Bye Ar!

\-------------------------

(Monday)

8:45 am - Gm

8:50 am - Gm?  
8:50 am - Good morning?

10:30 am - Haha are you asking if that's what it means or??

10:35 am - No..

10:35 am - Okay.. Sure haha  
10:35 am - Wyd?

10:37 am - I'm waiting for my class to start  
10:37 am - Shouldn't you be in class right now?

10:40 am - I am  
10:40 am - We have a sub today  
10:40 am - Free day!! :D

11:30 am - Are you feeling better?

11:32 am - Huh?

11:32 am - You sad you felt like your were going to pass out the other night

11:33 am - OH  
11:33 am - Right  
11:33 am - Yeah I'm fine  
11:34 am - I wasn't sick I was just drunk

11:34 am - And how old are you again?

11:34 am - 17 why?

11:34 am - You're 17 and you're drinking?  
11:35 am - Does Mikasa know?

11:35 am - No....  
11:36 am - Will you tell her?

11:36 am - No I won't  
11:36 am - She technically can't say anything anyway  
11:37 am - She did body shots off of her roommate last Friday night

11:37 am - SHE DID WHAT?  
11:37 am - OMG noo..  
11:38 am - College has changed her haha

11:40 am - Haha she said the same thing when she found out

11:40 am - So what are you going to school for

11:41 am - I want to be a pediatric oncologist

11:42 am - Wow  
11:42 am - So same as Kasa  
11:42 am - How long will that take?

11:43 am - It'll take about 13 years

11:43 am - That's way too long for me

11:44 am - What do you want to go to school for?

11:44 am - My dad wants me to go to med school

11:44 am - I asked what you want though  
11:45 am - Not your dad

11:46 am - I think I want to be a teacher

11:46 am - That's great!  
11:46 am - What grade?

11:47 am - Kindergarten

11:47 am - That's admirable

11:47 am - Compared to what you're going to be doing? No 

11:48 am - You'll be able to help shape the minds of young children and watch as they grow and learn

11:49 am - You'll literally be helping children battle cancer 

11:50 am - Well.. yes

11:51 am - I suppose you'll lose some too though 

11:51 am - Yes..

11:52 am - I'm sure you'll be a great doctor 

11:52 am - Thank you  
11:53 am - You don't know me though  
11:53 am - I could be the worst person ever

11:54 am - Ar you want to be a ped oncologist  
11:54 am - You can't be a bad person to do that job 

11:56 am - Why do you call me that?

11:56 am - Call you what 

11:56 am - Ar

11:57 am - I'm not sure  
11:57 am - Does it bother you?

11:58 am - I guess not

11:58 am - gtg  
11:58 am - Talk later?

12:00 pm - Sure

5:56 pm - attached image  
5:56 pm - This place is dead

5:58 pm - Studying?

5:58 pm - No I work here  
5:58 pm - Kasa's mom owns this bookstore

6:00 pm - How late does it stay open?

6:00 pm - 7-11

6:04 pm - So you're there until 11?  
6:05 pm - I didn't think school kids could work that late

6:05 pm - I can't work past 11 on weeknights  
6:05 pm - 12 on weekends

6:06 pm - Do you like it?

6:10 pm - Yeah  
6:10 pm - It's pretty chill  
6:10 pm - Wyd

6:15 pm - I'm studying

6:16 pm - What for

6:20 pm - Biology  
6:20 pm - And then I have to write an English paper

6:22 pm - Okay  
6:23 pm - I'll leave you to it then  
6:23 pm - Don't stay up too late  
6:23 pm - Get some rest

6:30 pm - Says the one who will be out past 11

6:30 pm - :D

\-------------------------

(Tuesday)

4:30 pm - Mikasa told me that she's trying to get you to come back with her for Thanksgiving

4:30 pm - She is

4:35 pm - So?

4:36 pm - So what?

4:36 pm - So are you going to or not?

4:38 pm - Oh well I don't know

4:38 pm - Why not?  
4:38 pm - Oh never mind  
4:38 pm - You must want to stay with your family right?

4:40 pm - Umm..  
4:40 pm - I don't really have anyone to spend it with

4:43 pm - Then you should definitely come spend it with us

4:44 pm - No I shouldn't

4:45 pm - Oh well if you don't want to then that's fine  
4:45 pm - Don't let me pressure you into anything you don't want to do

9:47 pm - Hey..  
9:47 pm - I didn't mean to upset you earlier if I did  
9:58 pm - Are you okay?

10:15 pm - I'm fine

10:16 pm - Are you sure?  
10:16 pm - Should I leave you alone for a while longer?

10:20 pm - No you're fine  
10:22 pm - I just don't want to be a burden to anyone  
10:22 pm - That's a time for family and you barely know me  
10:23 pm - Why would you want me there anyway?

10:24 pm - Dude  
10:24 pm - It doesn't matter  
10:24 pm - Mikasa's parents won't mind an extra person  
10:25 pm - Besides I'm technically not family either

10:27 pm - What about your family?

10:30 pm - My mom died when I was 10  
10:30 pm - And my dad will be working

10:31 pm - I'll think about it

10:31 pm - Awesome :D

10:34 pm - I'm sorry about earlier  
10:34 pm - I'm just swamped in school work right now

10:34 pm - It's fine  
10:35 pm - Maybe you should get some rest

10:36 pm - I think I will  
10:36 pm - Goodnight Eren

10:37 pm - Goodnight Armin


	2. Chapter Two

(Wednesday)

11:15 pm - I just thinking  
11:15 pm - *was

11:17 pm - Was it that you should be in bed?

11:18 pm - What no  
11:18 pm - Why would I be thinking that??  
11:18 pm - Who needs sleep?  
11:18 pm - Not meeeeeee :)

11:18 pm- Eren  
11:19 pm - Some of us do want sleep so..

11:20 pm - Right yeah okay  
11:20 pm - Sorry  
11:21 pm - No I was thinking about how you just knew that I was trying to talk to Mika  
11:21 pm - How did you know?

11:24 pm - She once told me about how her brother dated someone that he called horse face  
11:24 pm - Now that you say something though I must have been so creepy that day

11:24 pm - Nah you're fine  
11:25 pm - You weren't creepy at all

11:26 pm - Wait that was almost two weeks ago  
11:26 pm - Why are you thinking about that now?

11:28 pm - ..I might've reread the messages

11:28 pm - Oh okay  
11:28 pm - You kept me up for that why though?

11:30 pm - I'm sorry :(

11:30 pm - For what

11:31 pm - Keeping you up

11:32 pm - It's fine  
11:32 pm - How was work

11:33 pm - It was alright  
11:33 pm - Wednesday & Thursday nights are always slow for some reason so I was really bored

11:34 pm - Why didn't you just text me then?

11:35 pm - I didn't want to interrupt your studying 

11:35 pm - That's very considerate of you  
11:35 pm -But I'll let you know if I'm too busy to talk  
11:36 pm - So you don't have to worry about bothering me

11:37 pm - okay :)

11:40 pm - I do need to go to sleep though  
11:40 pm - I have a 7am class tomorrow

11:42 pm - Okay  
11:42 pm - Gn Ar

12:43 pm - Goodnight Eren

\-------------------------

(Friday)

12:00 pm - I think I need to start going to a gym  
12:00 pm - Or taking some kind of self defense class

2:50 pm - Why do you say that?  
2:50 pm - BTW sorry I had an art club meeting at lunch and the teachers super strict about cell phones  
2:51 pm - Something about them ruining the world 

3:15 pm - It's fine  
3:15 pm - Mikasa's going to start training me

3:17 pm - Why  
3:17 pm - Dod something happen  
3:17 pm - *Did

3:22 pm - It's nothing

3:22 pm - It's gotta be something  
3:22 pm - What happened Ar?

3:27 pm - I just thought that people would finally stop 'picking on the little guy'  
3:27 pm - Were in fucking college for crying out loud  
3:28 pm - When will they just leave me alone?

3:28 pm - What the hell are they doing?  
3:28 pm - Did someone hit you?

3:28 pm - No..  
3:29 pm - It's fine Eren

3:29 pm - It is not fine  
3:29 pm - Does Mikasa know?  
3:29 pm - More importantly, did they fucking hit you?  
3:30 pm - I swear to God, verbal bullying is bad enough, but I will personally fly up there and kick their asses if someone hit you.

3:32 pm - Eren.. it's okay  
3:32 pm - No one hit me  
3:32 pm - I'm fine, really. Just annoyed.

3:33 pm - Okay..  
3:33 pm - So this is something you've had to deal with since high school?

3:33 pm - Since elementary school actually

3:34 pm - Are you fucking kidding me?  
3:34 pm - Has it ever been physical?

3:35 pm - Why are you getting so worked up over this?  
3:35 pm - You barely know me

3:36 pm - That doesn't mean that I don't care.  
10:30 pm - Armin?

10:35 pm - Eren?

10:36 pm - Did I overstep again?

10:37 pm - Not really, no  
10:37 pm - I just didn't really know what to say

10:39 pm - I'm sorry  
10:39 pm - I've been told I'm a bit too intense  
10:39 pm - I'm working on it

10:40 pm - Haha It's fine  
10:41 pm - Uhh don't take it personally I just don't know how to deal with that stuff

10:42 pm - With what?

10:43 pm - People showing that they care, I guess  
10:44 pm - Especially when they don't really know me

10:45 pm - I still don't really understand what that has to do with anything

10:47 pm - ..What?

10:48 pm - If I didn't know you at all, and Mikasa told me that you were being bullied, I still would've reacted the same way.  
10:49 pm - I know that you couldn't have known that, but it's true.  
10:50 pm - Nothing pisses me off more than people being assholes to other people.

10:53 pm - Thank you

10:53 pm - For what?  
10:54 pm - For caring?  
10:54 pm - Don't thank me for that  
10:55 pm - We're friends and friends care for each other

11:00 pm - You consider me your friend?

11:00 pm - Well, yeah  
11:00 pm - Don't you?

11:02 pm - Of course

11:02 pm - Good :)  
11:03 pm - attached image  
11:03 pm - Gn ;)

11:05 pm - Umm, goodnight

\-------------------------

(Saturday)

11:00 am - attached image

12:00 pm - How was day 1?

12:39 pm - Intense  
12:40 pm - I haven't done anything so rigorous since eighth grade

12:42 pm - Did you play sports?

12:42 pm - I was a figure skater

12:43 pm - What????  
12:43 pm - Why'd you stop?

12:44 pm - My dad didn't appreciate the whole town calling me "Ice Princess"

12:45 pm - So it's one of the things you got bullied for?

12:46 pm - Yeah..

12:47 pm - Do you miss it?

12:47 pm - I do  
12:48 pm - It was my favorite thing to do besides drawing

12:50 pm - You draw too??  
12:50 pm - OMG that's awesome!!  
12:51 pm - Can I see some of your art

12:54 pm - attached image  
12:54 pm - attached image  
12:54 pm - Those are the most recent two

1:00 pm - Wow Ar  
1:00 pm - Those are great  
1:00 pm - Much better than my art  
1:02 pm - attached image 

1:15 pm - What do you mean mine is better?  
1:15 pm - That looks like an actual photograph  
1:16 pm - Was that for class?

1:18 pm - Yeah 

1:20 pm - Your eyes..  
1:20 pm - Are those contacts or your actual eye color?

1:22 pm - attached image 

1:23 pm - Wow so actual eye color then  
1:24 pm - I have the same pair of glasses BTW

1:25 pm - Really?  
1:25 pm - Pic or I don't believe you ;p 

1:26 pm - Seriously?

1:26 pm - Seriously 

1:30 pm - attached image

1:32 pm - Wow 

1:32 pm - Wow what?

1:33 pm - You're just really pretty 

1:36 pm - Ummm thanks?

1:36 pm - Take the compliment, Armin 

1:37 pm - Thank you, Eren

1:40 pm - Ugh my dad's back  
1:40 pm - I have to go do some "bonding" or some shit  
1:41 pm - Bye Ar 

1:42 pm - Have fun Eren

7:30 pm - attached image  
7:30 pm - How is this bonding?  
7:30 pm - He's been flirting with every woman we've seen so far.

7:32 pm - I take it you're not having fun

7:33 pm - Definitely not  
7:33 pm - I just don't understand why we're doing this.  
7:34 pm - He hasn't been paying attention to me at all.  
7:34 pm - Oh, wait. He saw me texting, so I'm about to be scolded for using my phone at the dinner table.  
7:35 pm - That'll turn into a lecture about all of my life choices so far.  
7:35 pm - I could tell you exactly what he's about to tell me word for word.

7:36 pm - Maybe we should talk later then? I don't want to get you in trouble..

8:38 pm - Didn't Mikasa tell you?  
8:38 pm - I'm always in trouble.  
8:38 pm - Hell, I am trouble.  
8:39 pm - Maybe its best if you don't come here for Thanksgiving because I'll apparently ruin your life in the span of a single day.

8:39 pm - Eren..

8:39 pm - Don't get close to Eren, he'll certainly lead you astray.

8:40 pm - Eren, please stop talking like this.

8:40 pm - I'm just telling the truth, Armin.

8:40 pm - You can't really believe that any of that's true.

8:41 pm - And how would you know? Like you said, we don't know each other.

8:41 pm - Did you text me just to take this out on me?  
10:50 pm - Eren, are you okay?  
11:45 pm - Umm, I just want to say that even though I'm not good with emotions or anything, I'll listen to you if you ever want to talk about something. I just won't sit here and let you take it out on me, though.. I don't think I did anything to deserve that. Text me later if you want to.. Goodnight, Eren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eren types correctly when he's mad for some reason that I can't explain.


	3. Chapter Three

At 2:47 am, Armin was awakened by the sound of his iPhone screeching one of those God awful preset ringtones that Apple thought was a good idea. Instead of reaching over to his nightstand and picking his phone up to answer it, he pondered over who could possibly be calling him at this hour. It couldn't be Bertolt or Mikasa because they were doing inappropriate things under the guise of watching a movie in the blanket fort they made earlier. He rolled over to see what they were doing despite the little voice in his head telling him that it was a bad idea and found them naked and passed out on the floor in front of the TV. Definitely not them, then. It could be Annie. No, she would have come here instead since sh has a key and absolutely hates talking on the phone. Christa? No, she has church tomorrow morning, so she's probably asleep

At some point while Armin was contemplating the call and who was on the other side, the phone stopped ringing. He continued to wonder if he should check his phone or wait until later to see who it was. On one hand, it could possibly be important. Maybe someone really needed him right now. He doubted it because the only time someone besides Annie really needed him was when they needed help with their homework. On the other hand, it could just be someone who called the wrong number. Maybe he should just go back to sleep. If it was really important, they'd call again.

Armin turned over, closed his eyes, and immediately started to wonder about Eren. Was he okay? Did he go to some party to get drunk? Mikasa had warned him when Armin had told her that they were going to continue talking that he often got like this. She said that he had some serious anger issues that he was working on and that he often took it out on others if he got too worked up. He just didn't think he'd ever see that side of him. Well, whatever he was doing, Armin hoped that he was okay and that he'd hear from him again.

Armin had just decided that he'd try texting Eren again in a few days if Eren didn't contact him first when his phone started to ring again. Instead of letting the call go unanswered this time, Armin sat up and grabbed his phone. The last person Armin expected it to be was Eren, but that's exactly who it was. Why was he calling him at 3 in the morning? Was he okay?

"Eren," Armin questioned. "Are you okay?" There was a lot of noise in the background. So he was drinking at a party tonight. Suddenly the noise that was roaring through the phone was muffled and Armin heard a sigh. Maybe he went into another room?

"Armin? Are you there?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I'm here." They were quiet for a moment before Armin continued. "Eren, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah.. Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Eren sounded confused, like he really didn't understand why a Armin was concerned about his reasons for calling at 3 am.

"Well... You were pretty upset earlier."

"Oh, yeah, no. I'm fine now. More than fine actually." Eren was silent for a moment. Armin wasn't sure if he should prompt him to talk about what happened earlier or if he should just let Eren decide where this was going. He didn't have to think much about it because Eren decided for him. "Oh, shit.. it's, like, five in the morning or some shit, isn't it?"

"No, it's–"

"I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Well, yea–"

"Fuck, Ar.. I'm sorry."

Armin sighed. He was used to being interrupted, and he normally didn't mind, but he was tired and a tad bit irritable. "Eren, its fine. I'm fine."

"Are you sure," Eren asked uncertainly. "You.. you sound upset."

"I'm not upset. I'm just not sure why you called me at three in the morning? I understand you're drunk, but why would you call me? Did you want to call Mikasa? She's sleeping right now, but–"

"Oh, no... No, I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh.. Any particular reason?"

"Uhh, well, I actually wanted to apologize. I was being a dick earlier, and you really didn't deserve that. I got all worked up about someone else being an asshole to you, but I did the same fucking thing, so I'm really, really sorry, Armin."

For a split second, Armin wanted to hang up. Eren sounded so genuine in what he said that Armin felt a little panicky. How was he supposed to respond to that? 

"Armin?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I thought that maybe you fell asleep.."

"Oh, uhh.. No. Umm, it's okay. I'm not mad or hurt by it anymore."

"But I definitely did hurt you?"

"A little.. Look, it's fine. I'd just appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to me like that in the future."

"You sound like I'm making you uncomfortable. Do you want me to hang up?"

"No, no! You don't need to hang up. I just.. I told you that I don't know how to deal with this stuff. I'm not good with goodbyes, apologies, or feelings in general.."

"Why not?"

"I'm not really sure. I've gotten a bit better about it, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah.. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I thought about hanging up on you when you apologized to me.." Eren laughed at that, and it was the most beautiful thing Armin had ever heard. He didn't know when he started considering laughs attractive, but he knew that he wanted to hear him laugh more. 

There was another moment of silence between them before Armin heard a door open and a voice calling for Eren in the background. Eren spoke to the other person for a minute before he turned his attention back to Armin.

"So my dad somehow found out that I'm here, and I have to go. I'm sorry I woke you up... If I don't talk to you in the next week, it's because I'm grounded." 

"Okay. Goodnight, Eren."

"It's morning, Ar."

Armin couldn't help but chuckle at that. Way to be technical, Eren.

"Good morning, Eren."

"Good morning, Armin."


	4. Chapter Four

Armin was sitting in front of the little coffee table with his back to the sofa in Annie and Reiner's apartment, snuggled up in a warm blanket with some steaming hot cocoa. Reiner had gone out to buy Annie's Christmas gift with Bertolt, so it was just him and Annie tonight, cuddled up and watching horror movies as was their weekly tradition since they were seven years old.

As he reached out to put his mug on the table, he saw his phone light up with a new text notification. He glanced at it to see if Eren had finally texted him, but it was just Reiner asking his opinion on some coat that he thought Annie might like. He sighed before he subtly replied that he thought she'd love it if he could find it in maroon.

Armin hadn't spoken to Eren in over a week since his younger friend had drunkenly called him to apologize. It was a bit strange if Armin had to be honest. They hadn't known each other for very long, but he had already grown far too accustomed to receiving texts from Eren. He often found himself wanting to text the other at random times during day but would think better of it when he remembered that Eren couldn't respond. He hoped that his punishment wouldn't last too much longer — and also that Eren wouldn't drink in the first place — because there was so much he wanted to tell him.

"Is that your high school boyfriend," Annie asked with what sounded like a hint of amusement.

"W-what," Armin sputtered. "Eren's not my boyfriend, so stop calling him that.."

"Mmhm.. Sure he's not," she said, obviously unconvinced.

Armin leaned his head back on the sofa and sighed heavily. She and Reiner had started calling him that as soon as they caught him texting Eren one night during his alone time, which everyone who knows Armin knows as 'Leave Armin the Fuck Alone Time'. He tried telling them that texting during homework didn't mean that he was in a relationship, but Annie just dryly reminded him that he won't even text her back while he's doing his school work.

"So," Annie began after a considerable pause, "Mikasa told me that she called him this morning.."

"Well, she is allowed to do that," he said sarcastically.

"Don't sass me, young man. I didn't raise a hooligan," Annie deadpanned.

Armin laughed. "You didn't raise me at all."

"How dare you," she said as she put a pale hand to her chest in mock offense. "I am your mother."

"Okay, then.. Mom," he said as he rolled his eyes. Annie smiled as if she was very pleased with him. "What's your point?"

"My point is that she said he pretty much only asked about you."

"Me," he asked in disbelief. How did she expect him to believe that? Then again, why would Annie lie?

"Yes you." She paused for a minute to watch the murderer take yet another life on screen. Her lip curled in annoyance. Probably because the blood didn't look too believable. Annie was very picky about her horror movies, and Armin had a feeling that they wouldn't be watching this one again. "He asked questions about your training and whether or not those assholes are still picking on you. Plus he asked a shit ton of other questions that she didn't even know the answer to. He was apparently disappointed that she didn't know you that well."

Armin didn't know how to respond to that. On one hand, he was flattered that Eren was asking about him, but on the other hand, he wanted Eren to learn about his life and personality through him and no one else. Better to get knowledge straight from the source, right?

He must have looked a little uncomfortable by this because, in the next instant, Annie tried to ease the tension by saying, "By the way, I'm still upset that you didn't come straight to me. You know I've always wanted to train your ass."

"And I've said that I'm sorry at least a million times," Armin whined. "I didn't even ask her. She offered."

"That doesn't mean that you should've accepted," Annie scolded.

"Annie.."

"Okay, okay. I don't care that much, but I do want to help out. Mikasa's good, but you know I'll be able to teach you all the real good moves." Armin reached forward to grab his mug, and she waited until he took a sip before she asked, "Do you like him?"

Armin almost spit out his drink. "W-what? Annie!" Leave it to her to try to change the subject to make him comfortable but then drag him right back into that same zone of discomfort.

"Well," she asked. "Do you?"

"I.. I don't know."

Annie looked at him in disbelief. "You don't know?"

"Okay... Maybe I do like him a little, but I shouldn't because I barely know him, and I've never met him."

"Armin, you're going to officially meet him in a week for Thanksgiving, which I'm also a little salty about. I asked you to go back to Reiner's parent's house with me, but noooo. You're running off with Mikasa just so you can meet some young, hot piece of ass. Some best friend you are."

"I.. You.. I'm not going.. He.. What the hell, Annie?!" 

Annie laughed, genuinely laughed, while Armin continued to sputter. 

"You know why I'm not going with you guys," Armin said once he finally calmed down. "It was too awkward last year. I felt so out of place."

Annie wiped her eyes and said, "And you don't think it'll be awkward with Mikasa's family?"

"Well, yeah, but–"

"But you want to meet Eren." It wasn't a question, and though she was giving him a hard time about it, Armin could tell that she didn't really mind.

"I do."

"You'll have to text me everyday to let me know how things are going." When Armin rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to make another mom comment, she continued. "I'm serious. You're going to another state. Without me. It's making me nervous."

She looked at him then, and Armin could see that she wasn't lying. Her face was blank, but her eyes were swimming in anxiety. "I'll be fine. Bertolt's going, too, and you know he'd never let anything happen to me."

"I know, but we normally do everything together, and though I don't want to admit this because it might make me look weak, but you're my crutch, Armin. My backbone. Anything could happen to you while you're down there, and that scares me. What will I do if I lose you?"

Automatically, Armin's thoughts turned negative in a way that he knew Annie would slap him for if he voiced. She didn't need him as much as she thought. She had Reiner, and he was much better for her than Armin ever was. He'd never been able to help her like he could. As bad as Armin was about talking through his feelings, Annie was almost worse. She equated feeling with weakness, and it took her a very long time to realize that she couldn't be more wrong. She still struggled with it, though, but Reiner was there to help her through it, and he was more than willing to wait hours or even weeks for her to sort out her emotions. 

Reiner offered the same for Armin, told him that he'd always listen to anything Armin needed to talk about, but Armin politely declined. It was hard enough to talk to Annie about his problems, and he'd known her his whole life. 

Still, though, Annie needed him right now. She was feeling vulnerable, and it was his fault. "Annie, I can't guarantee that nothing will happen, but I will text you all day, everyday if that will make you feel better." 

She wasn't looking at him anymore. "Promise?"

"Pinky promise."

Annie turned to him with a barely noticeable smile on her face and reached out her pinky finger. Armin grabbed it with his own, and they shook it before kissing their own hands. It was a silly gesture, but it's something that they started doing back when they were four, and it just stuck. Kind of like the weekly movie tradition.

"I love you, Armin," Annie whispered.

He smiled and just as quietly repeated her words back to her. "I love you, Annie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so self indulgent.  
> I needed some Armin/Annie friendship in my life, and this is what I came up with.
> 
> Also, I realize that they tend to jump around without ever really finishing some conversations, but that's kind of how me and my friends are, and I don't know..  
> It just happened.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back to texting.  
> Kind of..

(Tuesday)

4:30 pm - ARMIN!!  
4:30 pm - I'M BACK ARMIN!!  
4:30 pm - XD

4:32 pm - Hey, Eren!  
4:32 pm - How was your week?

4:32 pm - Boring af  
4:33 pm - I drew a lot though

4:33 pm - Can I see something you drew?

4:34 pm - Sure but I'll have to show you later  
4:34 pm - They're all at home

4:34 pm - Ah, so you're at work?

4:35 pm - Yup  
4:35 pm - Wyd

4:36 pm - I'm at work too

4:36 pm - Oh where do you work  
4:36 pm - Are you on break

4:38 pm - I work at a tattoo shop  
4:39 pm - I'm the receptionist

4:45 pm - Really??  
4:45 pm - That's awesome!!  
4:46 pm - Wait aren't they normally only open at night  
4:47 pm - Sometimes I'm not sure if I want to be a teacher or a tattoo artist

4:50 pm - This one opens at 4pm and closes at 4am  
4:50 pm - Whichever you decide, I'm sure you'll be amazing.

4:58 pm - Aww  
4:58 pm - You flatter me Ar  
4:58 pm - ;)

5:06 pm - I'm not really sure how to respond to that

5:06 pm - Do I make you uncomfortable when I wink at you?  
5:07 pm - I can stop if so.

5:08 pm - No, you're fine

5:12 pm - Oh?  
5:12 pm - I'm fine? ;)  
5:12 pm - You're pretty fine yourself  
5:13 pm - attached image

5:17 pm - You're  
5:17 pm - Very flirtatious, aren't you?  
5:18 pm - Is this what I have to look forward to when I go visit?  
5:18 pm - Nonstop flirting?

5:37 pm - ARMIN  
5:37 pm - You're coming here for Thanksgiving??  
5:37 pm - Holy shit  
5:38 pm - That's awesome!  
5:38 pm - And yes, you can look forward to that  
5:39 pm - That doesn't mean that I flirt with everyone though

5:43 pm - So you only flirt with me?  
5:43 pm - I find that hard to believe

5:46 pm - Why?

5:50 pm - There are literally a million other choices that are infinitely better than me.  
5:50 pm - Why would you waste time on me when you could probably have anyone?

5:52 pm - Okay, one, you really need to value yourself more.  
5:52 pm - Two, I'm not wasting my time on anyone, least of all you.  
5:53 pm - Three, I like you, so why would I pay attention to anyone else?

6:00 pm - You like me?

6:00 pm - I do

6:03 pm - As a friend, you mean?

6:03 pm - Of course  
6:04 pm - But I think I might like you more than that

6:15 pm - We've known each other for about a month..  
6:15 pm - How can you be so sure?

7:00 pm - I'm not confessing my love for you, Armin, and I don't expect you to feel the same, but I definitely at least have a crush on you.  
7:02 pm - You're interesting  
7:02 pm - And nice  
7:02 pm - And cute  
7:03 pm - And I definitely missed you  
7:05 pm - I'm sorry if I'm being too blunt, but I'm not the type of person who will hold back.

7:15 pm - I wish I saw myself that way

7:16 pm - Hopefully you will one day

7:29 pm - Hopefully

\-------------------------

(Wednesday)

3:30 am - I'm about to get on the plane  
3:30 am - Flight's scheduled to leave at 4 so I should be there somewhere around 9 I think.  
9:57 am - Mikasa and I are getting breakfast

10:00 am - :D

10:03 am - You just woke up didn't you?

10:03 am - I did  
10:04 am - And I'm really excited!  
10:04 am - I promise not to be weird btw

10:07 am - What do you mean?

10:10 am - You know..  
10:10 am - I'll try not to flirt too much  
10:11 am - I don't want to make you uncomfortable 

10:12 am - Oh  
10:12 am - You don't have to worry about that

10:14 am - Oksy  
10:14 am - I'm about to head next door  
10:15 am - I'll see you when you get to Kasa's

10:15 am - Okay

\-------------------------

Mikasa's house was close to a park that looked like it belonged in a big city rather than a small town of only 1100 people. Most places like this, Armin thought, tended to have tiny parks with the bare necessities, but this one housed more equipment than he'd ever seen in a park before. Granted, Armin hadn't been to or even really looked at the park in Baltimore since he was twelve, but he didn't remember it being as nice as this one. His park certainly didn't have a pond with cute little ducks swimming in it.

As Armin marveled at the park across the street, Mikasa and Bertolt had already gotten out of the rental car and started to take everything out of the trunk.

After they pulled out the last bag, Bertolt went over to the back, passenger side door and rapped his knuckles in it three times to get Armin's attention.

"Are you planning on getting out of the car," Bertolt asked playfully as Armin stared at him, wondering how he had even gotten out of the car without him noticing.

Armin unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door before he got out and rounded the car to grab his bags. "Sorry.. I didn't even realize that you guys got out.." 

He felt nervous. He'd always been nervous about coming here, but it had gotten worse yesterday when Eren had admitted that he liked him. Maybe that why he took to staring at a park, to losing himself in something so trivial. Maybe he was trying to put off the inevitable, which was stupid because he was standing right outside of Mikasa's house, the house he knew Eren was inside right now.

"Yeah," Bertolt said, a breathy laugh escaping his lips, "we got that." 

Mikasa had already started up the stairs of her porch, and Bertolt seemed to take the distance between them as an opportune moment to ask about how Armin was doing. "Are you okay? You seem a little out of it?"

"Yeah," Armin replied. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Armin?" Bert sounded worried, more so than usual. Maybe it was because Annie had told him not so discreetly to watch out for Armin, to make sure he did okay since he would be in an unfamiliar environment. "I can drive you back to the airport if you want to go home. Hell, I'll go home with you if you need me to. Just say the word, and we'll leave."

Armin sighed. "While I appreciate the gesture, I made this decision, and I'm sticking to it. Besides, you're here to meet Mikasa's family. That's an important step."

"I know, I know.."

"What's wrong, Bert? Are you scared?"

"Of course I am."

Armin laughed and started moving toward the porch of the house where Mikasa was waiting patiently. "They'll love you. Everyone does."

"I hope so."

Mikasa, who had apparently heard their conversation despite Bertolt trying to keep it between the two of them, smiled and said, "Of course they'll love you." She paused and turned to Armin, and he swore he saw her eyes glint mischievously. "Eren will love you, too."

Armin froze in place on the last step. He saw Bertolt freeze beside him as well, no doubt trying to assess whether or not Armin was going to bolt or not. "That's–"

The front door creaked open, and there were two people standing in the doorway, looking positively ecstatic at Mikasa's return. The man was tall but not as tall as Bert, and he had sandy, blond hair and brown eyes. The woman was of Asian decent and was a few inches shorter than Mikasa. Suddenly, he could see why Mikasa was as stunning as she was. Her parents were absolutely beautiful, just like her.

"Were you ever planning on opening the door and coming inside, or were you three just going to stand around on the porch your entire time here," Mikasa's mother asked. She had a playful smile on her face as her eyes grazed over each of them before stopping on Bertolt. "Ah, this must be the one who stole my daughter's heart! Tell me, how did you manage that?"

"Mom.."

"Mm, yes," her father began, "I'm dying to know. She used to swear up and down that men were disgusting creatures and that she'd rather die than even think about kissing one."

"Dad!"

"It's true," said a third voice from behind Mikasa's parents, which just turned out to be Eren's voice. He looked even more breathtaking in person than he did in any of the pictures or self portraits he'd sent to Armin

.

"She never even thought about dating anyone before you. So please, tell us. How did you woo the ever elusive Mikasa Ackerman?"

"Can you three please stop this, and let us in," Mikasa half pleaded, half demanded. "You guys said you wouldn't bombard him like this."

"Correction," Eren stated as he hung his arms over both a Mikasa's parents' shoulders, "We said we wouldn't bombard him until at least a few hours after you arrived, but..."

"But it was too hard to resist messing with you like this," her mother finished for him. "I do apologize, Bertolt, but we won't relent. It is our duty as Mikasa's family to interrogate you as much as we can."

Armin giggled as Mikasa groaned, and Bertolt started to visibly sweat. It was then that Eren seemed to remember that Armin was even there because his gaze fell upon Armin for the first time since he appeared in the doorway. 

Their eyes locked, and Eren's already wide smile somehow managed to grow even wider. It was the brightest thing that Armin had ever seen, and in combination with Eren's eyes, Armin could feel himself weakening under the intensity of Eren's beauty. 

Naturally, Armin was the first to look away, and out of his peripheral vision, he could see both Mikasa and Bertolt beaming at him, as if they were in on something that he wasn't for once.

"Well," Mikasa's father said, effectively breaking the short lived silence, "perhaps we should go inside. It is a little chilly out here, and I'd prefer it if we didn't heat the whole neighborhood."

"Oh, Greg, you know that they're probably used to the cold, especially Armin and Bertolt. What with living in the northern states and all," Mikasa's mother said. "Tell me, how cold is it up there?"

"The high is usually in the 50's," Armin said at the same time that Bertolt said, "The low is usually in the 30's."

Mikasa's parents and Eren both looked between the two as if they'd witnessed something incredible but strange before they looked to Mikasa, and her mother asked, "Do they do that often?"

Mikasa shrugged and replied, "Sometimes, but Reiner and Armin tend to do it more often. These two typically finish each other's sentences without meaning to, but Armin and Reiner tend to say the same exact things at the same exact time. I've even seen it happen through text message." She brushed it off as if it was nothing new, had always brushed it off that way, but her family seemed to think that it as an incredible feat.

"Wow," Mr. Ackerman said. "So are you two boys close?"

Armin could see Eren watching him closely, could feel his gaze linger on his face as he waited for Armin's reply, and it made him stutter.

"Uhh, w-we.. We've known each other for m-most of our lives, sir."

"Uhh, yeah," Bertolt said as he scratched his cheek. It was a nervous tick he'd developed when he was 10, and he started to get more attention because of his acne. "W-we've known each other since we were seven."

"Oh, my," Mrs. Ackerman mock whispered into her husband's ear. "I think we've already scared the poor boys."

Both Armin and Bertolt put their hands in front of them and started to frantically wave them back and forth.

"N-no! You didn't scare us," Bertolt began.

"We're just awkward," Armin finished.

Laughter erupted in the hallway, and both the boys felt the need to shrink away and hide in the car or somewhere else for a while. 

"Oh, sweetheart.. Neither of you have to feel nervous around us," Mikasa's mother stated. "Our home is your home, and we want you to feel comfortable here." She must have seen something in Armin's face because she looked directly at him as she said, "Both of you."

"Now, we know that your anxiety of being around new people won't go away over night," Mikasa's father said, "or maybe even during your stay here at all, but we really do want you to know that we only want you to feel welcome."

"Trust me," Eren began with a confidence that demanded that Armin do just that, "they'll have you guys feeling more like you're a part of this family than your own before you leave for home."

Armin and Bertolt both cringed a little at that statement. It hit a little too close to home for the two boys who both grew up with shitty parents that were now no longer a part of their lives, but they smiled anyway, and hoped that no one would notice. Unfortunately, everyone did, and fortunately, no one said anything.

"Now, sleeping arrangements," Mr. Ackerman said. "We have two guest bedrooms, and I expect Bertolt to be in one of them."

"Dad.."

"He's joking, honey," Mrs. Ackerman laughed. "We're not stupid. We know he'll probably sneak into your room at night anyway." Mikasa turned a bright red, Bertolt turned deathly pale, and Eren and Armin chuckled behind their hands. "So we're going to let him stay in your room. Besides, we both know that one of the guest bedrooms stopped being just that years ago when Eren claimed it."

"I thought that Levi was coming," Mikasa stated.

"He is, but he can let Eren sleep in his room while Armin sleeps in Eren's." There was a pause before Mikasa's mom looked at Armin with a familiar smirk and said, "Unless Armin doesn't mind sharing with Eren."

This time, it was their turn to blush while Mikasa and Bertolt snickered with their hands covering their mouths. 

"Umm–"

Eren cut Armin off when he said, "I can just room with Levi." He paused and gave Armin a pointed look, one that almost seemed to ask whether or not his next suggestion would be more appreciated. "Or I could, you know, sleep in my own room at my own house."

Suddenly, Armin understood the look better. Eren was asking whether it was even okay for him to sleep in this house considering the fact that he'd outright said that he had a crush on him. It was Eren trying not to make things weird. It was Eren being considerate of Armin. 

It was sweet.

It also made Armin feel a little brave. The next thing he said was something that he'd never have agreed to had it been anyone else. "I don't mind sharing with you as long as the bed's big enough."

Eren, Mikasa, and Bertolt all gaped at him while Mikasa's parents both smirked.

"Okay, then," Mr. Ackerman said as he clapped his hands together, "why don't you guys go get settled in while your mom and I go finish up in the kitchen."

"Please tell me that you didn't start on lunch yet. We just had breakfast."

"No, Mikasa, we didn't," Mrs. Ackerman replied with a roll of her eyes. "We need to clean up because we just had breakfast as well."

"Alright, then. Eren, go show Armin where he can put his stuff."

"Yes, ma'am," Eren exclaimed with a mock salute. She rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't see because he had already turned away from her to make his way upstairs. "Come on, Ar."

Eren looked back at him and gave him another of those blindingly beautiful smiles that reached his eyes, and Armin felt like there was no other choice for him but to follow after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt pretty happy with this one, so I didn't edit it or change anything at all.  
> Let me know if there are any mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense!
> 
> If it feels like they're moving too fast, I'm sorry, but I promise that they aren't!  
> This is really going to be one of those slow burns.  
> You feel me?


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to slide in here and drop this Eren POV like I haven't avoided this fic for a month....
> 
> I probably won't write out the whole week that Armin's supposed to spend with Eren. I might just do two chapters for this Thanksgiving that they're supposed to be having, and then ship him back home. I hope that's not disappointing.
> 
> Also, I was going to post chapters based around holidays on the holidays, but I obviously threw that out the window.

After Eren showed Armin which room they'd be staying in, Armin decided that it would probably be best if he took a nap. Eren agreed, of course, and slipped out the room and went to find Mikasa. They had agreed to spend at least an hour alone together at the park once she came back home, and now Eren could do so without feeling bad about leaving Armin alone.

He found her in her room, and since the door was slightly cracked open, he just barged in. If there was one thing that Eren shouldn't have done, though, it was walk into Mikasa's room without knocking first.

She and her boyfriend were sprawled out on the bed. Mikasa was straddling Bertolt as she kissed him with fervor. His hands were on her waist, while her hands were underneath her shirt, clearly working on unhooking her bra.

"Ready to go, Kas–" Eren cut himself off once he realized what he'd walked in on — and more importantly what he could have walked in on had he waited just a few more minutes — and hurriedly turned around and slammed the door.

He could feel his face burning in embarrassment as he silently cursed himself for barging into someone else's room when he knew that they weren't alone. He knew it, knew it was wrong whether they were alone or not, yet he did it anyway. Boy, if his father heard about this..

Before he could get lost in his thoughts, he heard a muffled, frantic voice say, "Oh, my God! I told you that we shouldn't have been doing this!"

He heard another muffled and very annoyed voice say, "It wouldn't have been a problem if EREN WOULD'VE KNOCKED FIRST!"

"Sorry," Eren shouted. "I'm sorry! Your door was cracked open, so I didn't think you guys would be.. You know!"

The door flew open and Mikasa hissed, "Would you shut up? I'd rather not let my parents know that you almost caught me fucking my boyfriend."

Eren wasn't sure what to say to that. He knew that Mikasa wasn't a virgin, but they never actually talked about her sex life. Like, at all. He only found out that she'd had sex because they were playing truth or dare at Jean's house on Halloween a few years ago, and after finding out who she lost her virginity to, he vowed to never ask questions about her bedroom activities.

"Well," Mikasa began, "What did you want?" Her expression finally shifted from vexed to calm, and she stood with her shoulder on the doorframe and her right ankle crossed over the left. 

Eren couldn't help but sigh out his relief. He hated when Mikasa got angry with him. She wasn't a very temperamental person, but when she did get mad, everyone knew not to get in her way. 

Before Eren could answer, the door to his shared bedroom across the hall opened up and a certain blond roommate of his stepped out into the hallway. 

Mikasa and Eren both turned to look at him as he nervously said, "Umm, I... I heard shouting?"

Eren felt his face heat up again. "Uhh, yeah.. Sorry about that.." The brunet brought a hand to the back of his neck and absentmindedly rubbed at the base of his skull.

"Is everything okay," Armin asked. His voice was laced with genuine worry, and Eren really wanted to kick himself. Armin hadn't even been here for a full hour, and Eren was already making shit hard on him.

"Yeah.. Uhh..."

"Eren walked in on me and Bert right before we could get it on, so he started yelling. He's almost as bad as you when it comes to voyeurism. Actually, though, you seem to be better about it now, Armin."

"Oh, my God," Eren groaned. Did she really have to tell him about it?

"Ah," Armin said. "Yeah... You get used to it." He shrugged his shoulders as he said it, as if walking in on sex or almost-sex is second nature to him.

"How could you get used to that," Eren asked incredulously. "That's a private matter!"

Armin shrugged again. "I agree, but when you room with a guy who refuses to do the sock-on-the-door thing or even text you to make sure you don't walk in on anything because those things 'too embarrassing', you just get used to it eventually."

Eren gaped at Armin as if he'd grown a second head. "How often do you walk in on them?" 

"At least three times a week," he said without missing a beat. 

"What the fuck?" A little vexed for Armin's sake at this point, Eren looked at Mikasa to make sure she understood who he was speaking to. "Couldn't _you_ text him to let him know you guys are doing shit that he'd rather not walk in on?"

"Eh," Mikasa said with a shrug. "When you get caught up in the moment, you don't have time for texts."

He thought that was all she had to say and almost turned to look back at Armin, but then Mikasa looked Eren directly in the eye and smirked as she said, "Not that I'd expect you to understand what I mean, Eren."

As he stood there, mouth agape and eyes narrowed, he heard a small giggle that he knew hadn't come from the woman standing in front of him.

He turned to his left and saw none other than Armin with one arm crossed over his stomach, holding his side, and the other hand covering his mouth. His shoulders were a little hunched as he shook with laughter, and Eren could only find one word to describe what he was witnessing: Cute.

However, Eren wasn't ready to openly admit in person how adorable he thought the blond was, so he just settled for whining, "Armin! How could you?"

"I'm sorry, Eren."

"No, you're not," Eren said at the same time that he heard Bertolt yell, "Lies," from the bedroom.

Armin just smiled, shrugged, and turned around to go back in his — their — room. 

Eren stared at the empty spot where Armin had been for a moment more before he turned back to see Mikasa looking at him with that dumb smirk still planted on her face and Bertolt looking at him with eyes filled with worry and excitement. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why the other male would be looking at him in such a way.

"What," he decided to ask the couple.

"Oh, nothing," Mikasa answered, smirk still in place. "Anyway, what did you want?"

"Oh, I wanted to see if you were ready to go to the park since Armin wanted to take a nap, but we can go later if you're, umm... busy." He tried to give them his most apologetic look.

Mikasa looked back at Bertolt, and the latter just shrugged his shoulders and turned around to go back to the bed. Eren guessed that meant that the park would have to wait, but then Mikasa turned back to him and surprised him by telling him to get his ass across the street.

\-------------------------

Mikasa plopped down on the empty swing seat to Eren's left. The swings were always their favorites. They would always have little competitions to see who could go higher or who could jump the farthest when they were younger.

Swinging always felt like flying to Eren, and he'd do anything to feel like he had wings. He loved feeling the wind blowing through his hair, and he loved the rush that came with jumping off when the swing was at its highest, even when it lead to a broken bone or two.

As he started moving back and forth, he looked over to see Mikasa doing the same. They kept going until they were swinging as high as they could, and without a word or a glance toward the other, they both jumped off at the same time. Mikasa, of course, gracefully landed on her feet, but Eren managed to land on one foot and fell forward as he stumbled to regain his balance.

He could hear Mikasa's snickers, and he was so resigned to defeat that he just rolled over and laid in the grass. And upon realizing that Eren wouldn't budge, Mikasa sighed and went to lay next to him.

After she got settled, Eren looked over at her and said, "So... You and Bertolt seem pretty serious."

"Yeah, we are. And you seem like you want things to get serious with Armin," she countered. 

"Wh-what," Eren spluttered. " No, I–"

"Oh, don't bullshit me, Eren Michael." Eren glared at her for using his middle name, but she either didn't notice or just didn't care. Probably the latter.

He turned away from her to look up at the clouds and decided to just be honest with her. "I... I'm not sure what I want," he admitted. He saw Mikasa turn towards him in his peripheral vision, but he didn't feel like meeting her gaze head on. 

"I like him... I know I do, but Jean and I broke up four months ago, and as Armin loves to remind me, we don't know each other all that well." He paused to collect his thoughts. "There's also the distance. Jesus, you guys are so far away. And you know how I am... When I'm with someone, I need to physically be with them. I need to hug and kiss them. All the time. I'd never be able to do long distance."

Mikasa hummed to show that she was listening. Eren looked over at her and saw that her eyes were closed, and she was smiling slightly. 

"What," he asked.

"What do you mean, 'What?'"

"You're smiling.."

She snorted and opened her eyes. As she looked over at him, she asked, "What? I can't smile without you questioning it?"

"You know," he started, "you really sound like Levi sometimes. I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"And why the fuck would it be a bad thing?"

At the sound of the new voice, Eren sat straight up and practically screamed in surprise. "Levi?" 

"The one and only," Levi said with a small smirk. The smirk wasn't long-lived, though, because Levi hardened his features to ask, "Anyway, what's so bad about sounding like me, Eren?"

If Eren didn't know any better, he would've thought that Levi was genuinely upset. But he did know Levi, and he could see the amusement in his eyes.

Before Mikasa had even attempted to sit up, Eren was already on his feet and on his way to the shorter man. He wrapped his arms around Levi and lifted him into the air so that he could spin him around while he hugged him.

Levi did not appreciate Eren's warm welcome.

"Put me down," he slowly demanded. "Now."

Eren stopped spinning and set his older friend back on the ground. He expected Levi to have a scowl on his face considering how hard his voice sounded, but he was actually smiling up at Eren despite his hatred of being man handled.

"Sorry, Levi," Eren said with a bright smile. "I just really missed you."

"Yeah, yeah," Levi said with a fond smile and a shake of his head. "I missed you, too... Even though we saw each other two weeks ago."

"Two weeks is too long!"

Levi rolled his eyes as Mikasa said hello to him. He hadn't even noticed that she'd gotten up off the ground and joined them by the bench.

"Hey, Kasa," greeted Levi.

"Please stop," she groaned. "It's bad enough that Eren won't stop calling me that, but I can handle three people going around calling me 'Kasa' all week."

"Three," Eren and Levi asked at the same time.

"Yeah," she explained, "Bert thought that it was cute, so he called me that earlier."

"Who the fuck is Bert," Levi asked.

At the same time, Eren said, "That's too cute."

"Fuck you, Eren," Mikasa said with a glare as she gave him the middle finger. "It's not cute."

"It is, and you know it."

"Again, who the fuck is Bert," Levi asked impatiently. "And he's not sleeping in my fucking room is he?"

"No, he's not," Mikasa said. 

She was avoiding telling Levi about her boyfriend for some reason. It didn't make sense. Levi was going to have to meet him anyway, so why wouldn't she just tell him now?

Eren decided that he would just answer for her. 

"Bert is her boyfriend. His name is Bertolt Hoover, and they've been dating for four — four? — months, and he's staying in her room."

Levi arched an eyebrow as he looked over at Mikasa. "Oh? Were you just planning on hiding him from me?"

"No," Mikasa snapped as she stopped glaring at Eren and started glaring at Levi. "But I was hoping on keeping this from Hanji and Erwin... At least until I'm ready to introduce him to my two best friends/ex-partners."

"Hmm. Right," Levi said. He looked a little more sullen than he did a moment ago. "Well, don't worry about it. They won't be coming this year, which I suppose you already knew, and I won't tell them anything."

"Are you okay, Levi," Eren asked as he sat back down on the ground. Mikasa followed immediately, and Levi, who didn't want to be the only one standing but also didn't want to sit on the ground, sat on the closest park bench.

"Yeah, kid," Levi replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, at the mention of Erwin and Hanji, you kind of got this sad look in your eyes." Eren could see that Levi wanted to deny it, but he continued before Levi could lie to him again. "What happened?"

Levi sighed. It wasn't his normal type of sigh, which was the kind that could make you feel stupid and three inches tall. No, it was the kind he gave when he felt like crying.

"Well... You guys know that after Mikasa broke up with them, they decided to be monogamous, right?" He waited for them to respond before he continued.

"Okay, well... Jesus.. Erwin.." He cut himself off with another sigh, and Eren could tell that this wasn't easy for him to talk about.

"It's okay, Levi," Eren said comfortingly. "You don't have to–"

"Erwin cheated on Hanji."

"What," Eren and Mikasa shouted at the same time. 

Eren was pissed. How could anyone cheat on them? Hanji was weird, but they were such an amazing person, and they didn't deserve that.

He looked over to Mikasa, and he could tell that she was angry as well. Probably a million times more than Eren ever could be.

"Yeah," Levi said blankly. "With me.."

"What do you mean 'with you'," Eren asked.

"Are you fucking serious, Levi." Mikasa's voice was barely above a whisper, but with as quiet as it was, it sounded as if she'd yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Look, I'm not trying to make excuses for myself because I know damn well how shitty I am for even agreeing to fucking him," Levi said as he ran his hand through his hair, "but he lied to me, too."

At their quizzical looks, Levi explained, "He told me that they weren't together anymore, that they'd been distant for weeks, and he ended it that morning. Why I fucking believed him, I don't know. Maybe I was too drunk, or maybe I just wanted to be with the asshole so badly that I was willing to take his word for it without checking with Hanji, but fuck.. I made a huge mistake."

\-------------------------

They had spent five hours at the park without even realizing it.

Levi told them about everything that had happened, and how he wasn't sure what that meant for his friendship with Erwin and Hanji, and Mikasa tried her hardest not to punch him in the face.

They talked about Mikasa's relationship with Bertolt. She was convinced that he's definitely the one, and she wants to get an apartment with him next August. Eren and Levi weren't entirely on board with her moving so fast, but they both agreed that since it was her life, her relationship, she could do what she pleased. They had no say in her decisions, and they respected that enough to not voice their concerns. 

To Eren's dismay, they also talked about his relationship with Armin. 

_"It's a simple question, Jaeger. Do you want to be with him or not?"_

_"Yes, Levi! Yes, I do!" Eren was getting frustrated. They'd been badgering him about Armin for an hour now, and Eren wasn't sure what else they expected him to say. "It doesn't matter what I want, though."_

_"And why not," Levi demanded._

_"Because there's too much distance between us for me to be in a relationship! Because we've known each other for, like, a month! Because I'm pretty sure he doesn't even like me like that!"_

_"Oh, Eren," said Mikasa. "You're such a blind idiot."_

They probably would have spent a few more hours out there if Mikasa's mother wouldn't have called them back inside.

"I can't believe you three spent all afternoon out there and left your guests to fend for themselves," she fussed as she slapped them each on the back of their heads as they walked inside. 

Levi was the last one in the house,and instead of popping him only once on the head like she did to Eren and Mikasa, she hit him twice.

"And you! You've been here for hours, but you never once came in to tell your aunt that you missed her or anything," Mrs. Ackerman exclaimed. "I'm hurt!"

Levi gave her a semi-sheepish smile as he apologized. He gave her a hug and then left to find his uncle. As aloof as he liked to seem, he had a soft spot for his Mikasa's parents. They did raise him after all.

"You two better go apologize," Mikasa's mother said. "They're in the living room."

"Okay," Eren and Mikasa said together as they walked towards the family room. 

They found Bertolt and Armin watching TV on the sofa. At first glance, it looked like they were watching America's Funniest Home Videos, but the hope that the Ackerman's wouldn't break out the embarrassing videos of their childhood was swept away when Eren heard a tiny version of himself declaring that he was the prettiest princess in the world.

Eren should've expected this honestly. Mikasa's mom's favorite pastime was embarrassing her daughter and her friends as often as possible, and they left their friends alone with her. For five hours. Who knows what she could've told them or showed them already.

"Mikasa," Eren whined just as she shouted, "MOM!"

"Yes, sweetie," she said in the form of a question as she stuck her head through the door that separated the kitchen from the living room. She had a huge, innocent looking smile on her face, but the glint in her eyes was extremely mischievous.

"Why?"

"Why what, darling?"

Mikasa's scowl deepened as she glared at her mother. 

"Why would you show them this?"

"Oh, that old thing," she asked playfully. "Well, they were bored and were looking for something to watch, so I decided to show them what your childhood was like!"

"There aren't any videos of me, are there," Levi asked as he walked into the room and sat on the only chair in the room.

"But of course there are," she exclaimed. 

He groaned and threw his head back as he said, "Of course there are.."

Knowing that there was no way in hell he'd ever be able to take the tape out the ancient VHS player, Eren walked over to the loveseat that Armin was sitting on and sat down next to the blond. 

"Hey, Ar," he began with a bright smile on his face, "how was your nap?"

"Oh, uhh, it was.. It was great," Armin replied. He was staring at Eren with a mixture of awe, amusement, and some other emotion that Eren couldn't put his finger on. 

"Good," Eren responded. "So how many of these have you seen so far?"

"Only 15," Armin said nonchalantly. Or he tried to come off as uninterested, but Eren could clearly see that he was eating these tapes up.

"Greeeeeat," said the brunet, "and there are only a million more..."

Armin chuckled at Eren's misery before they fell into a comfortable silence and continued watching the tape. 

This was nice. They'd only just met that day, but Eren felt completely fine with just being near the other boy. There weren't many people that Eren felt just content to sit around with, but somehow he was fine with doing so with Armin. 

He couldn't help but hope that that meant something special. 

When a younger Levi stepped on screen to save Princess Eren from the evil dragon sorceress, the brunet looked over at the raven haired man in despair.

He was asking a silent question with just his facial expression, and luckily Levi understood. 

_Please tell me this isn't the time we kissed._

Levi looked at him with a seemingly blank face, but Eren could tell that he was amused and annoyed.

_Oh, it is._

Eren groaned. Under his breath, he muttered, "Son of a bitch.."

"What," Armin asked.

And then Levi was kissing Eren.

"Oh," Armin giggled. "That's cute."

"Arminnnnnnn," Eren whined as Levi turned his sharp glare on the blond boy to Eren's left.

"So who are you," the older man asked.

"O-oh," Armin stuttered. "I'm Armin Arlert."

Levi grunted in acknowledgment, and turned his steely gaze on Mikasa and her boyfriend. "Then you must be Bertolt."

"A-ah, ummm..." He scratched at his cheek and glanced at Mikasa. "Yeah, I.. My name's Bertolt Hoover. You're Levi, right? Mikasa's told me a bit about you.."

"Hmm."

"Be nice, Levi," Mikasa warned.

"Sure, sure," Levi said with a dismissive wave at his cousin. "So blondie, are you Eren's new boyfriend?"

Eren immediately glared at Levi while Armin started to splutter. Levi knew the answer to that question, so he was just trying to be an ass right now, and a Eren wasn't about to let him pick on Armin.

"Fuck off, Levi."

"I'm just fucking with him."

"I know you are," the brunet responded, "but you need to stop. You're making him uncomfortable."

"Am I," Levi asked as he turned his attention back to Armin with one eyebrow cocked. 

"Oh, umm.. No, no. I'm fine.."

Levi must have been able to tell that Armin was lying because he backed off. He could be an ass, but Levi wasn't heartless. He hated knowing that he'd genuinely made someone feel uncomfortable or hurt.

Just as Levi turned towards Mikasa and Bertolt, probably to interrogate the taller boy, Mikasa's father poked his head in to inform them that dinner was ready and that they should all go wash up.

If nothing else, this meal was bound to be embarrassing and entertaining to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure where any of this came from?  
> I guess I just needed to establish Eren's relationship with his friends?  
> I don't know...  
> Either way, Eren Jaeger high jacked this and took it somewhere that I didn't expect.
> 
> Also: I headcanon that when it comes to sex, Eren is the shy one and Armin is the secretly kinky one. That's cliché af, but I don't care.
> 
> Oh, and yes. Mikasa dated Erwin and Hanji at the same time. It was a very healthy and loving relationship. Polyamory, yo. It's not something to frown upon.
> 
> One more thing: I wasn't going to make Erwin a dick, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I said at all, but they arrived on Thanksgiving day.  
> And for the sake of this fic, their college lets out only a few days before Thanksgiving and convenes again a week later.
> 
> I did not proofread, so I'm sorry if there are mistakes.

Most of the dinner went without incident. Eren's father joined them a few minutes after the meal began, and there was plenty of delicious food and an abundance of interesting stories from Mikasa, Eren, and Levi's childhood.

For example, there was a time back when they were in middle school that Mikasa punched a boy that she went to a school dance with for trying to hold her hand.

Eren once cried in the bathtub for three hours because Levi forgot to give him a hug before he went to go spend time with his friends. Eren was 10 when that happened, and Levi said that he wasn't aware that Eren even wanted the hug. 

With every anecdote, Armin got to see parts of his friends' lives that he never would have known about had it not been for Mikasa's parents bringing the stories to the table. It made him feel both happy and a bit lost.

He felt happy because he was so glad that his friends didn't seem to have the same kind of childhood that he did. They both had parents who loved them and stuck around and tried to be apart of their lives. Even if the tension between the Jaeger's was so palpable that he could cut it with a knife, his father was clearly putting in at least a little effort, which is more than Armin could say for his own father.

He felt lost because, though they were telling these stories to them, the whole experience felt like a private one. Armin and Bertolt were outsiders. They could listen and laugh about them, sure. But could they say that they felt like they belonged in that moment? Definitely not.

The most painful stories for Armin, though, were the ones about Eren's crush on Levi and his relationship with their friend Jean. He didn't know why it bothered him, and he certainly didn't want it to bother him, but he felt a slight pang in his chest every time it got brought up. It made no sense to him.

Eren must have noticed that Armin wasn't fully enjoying himself because he reached over and grabbed Armin's hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze. 

It was then that things started to go downhill.

Eren's father noticed their interlocked hands and must have made a noise of disapproval because Eren turned on him so quick that Armin was afraid he'd get whiplash.

"What," he demanded. His father looked at him and gave Eren an exasperated look that obviously stated that he didn't want to do this now.

Eren clearly wasn't going to drop it, though, because he repeated himself. "What, Dad?"

"What do you mean, 'What,' Eren," Mr. Jaeger asked in a very exasperated tone. 

"What was that noise for? Have a problem with me holding someone's hand?"

Armin wiggles his hand out of Eren's grasp at that inquiry and stared down at his plate with his hands folded in his lap. Could this be why there was so much tension between them? Was Eren's father homophobic?

"Eren, I–," Mikasa began. She was no doubt going to say that she didn't think that now was the time or place, but she was interrupted by Eren's father before she could get what everyone was thinking out in the open.

"No, Eren. I've told you before that I don't care who you... hold hands with." He looked directly at Armin during his pause, but he quickly looked back at Eren when Armin raised his head and made eye contact with the man.

"I just don't understand how you can move from one... partner to another so fast," Eren's father said. Though there was definitely some discomfort in his words, Armin couldn't detect malice or disgust from the man.

Eren, however, took every offense to what his father had said. 

"Oh, and like you're any better," the green eyed boy spat at his father before standing up and storming off.

Mikasa and Levi made to get up and follow him, but Armin stood up first, excused himself, and followed after him before the other two could even get out of their chairs. He wasn't sure if he could help him like they could — in fact, he was certain that he couldn't — but he wanted to try anyway.

\-------------------------

He found Eren upstairs in their room. He was sprawled out on the bed with one arm laying across his stomach and the other covering his eyes.

Armin hesitated in the doorway. Should he really be the one to talk Eren through this? He was terrible at feelings and heart-to-heart conversations, and he knew it, so why would he rush off after someone who was obviously feeling vulnerable? The more he thought about it, the more he doubted why he was even up there, but the one conclusion he kept coming to was that he desperately wanted to be the one who Eren would confide in.

So with brand new resolve to at the very least hear a Eren out, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. 

"Eren?"

"Yeah?"

"Are... you okay?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead Eren sat up and scooted back so that his back was touching the wall and patted the bed for Armin to join him. Only when Armin sat down beside him did Eren speak.

"I'm sorry about that," he said while he fidgeted with a loose string on the comforter. 

"Do you want to talk about it," Armin asked. He hoped that he didn't sound as nervous as he felt. 

He probably did because Eren looked up at him and asked, "Are you sure you want me to? I know this isn't your strong suit.."

Armin sighed and looked up from the bed to make eye contact with the green eyed boy sitting next to him. "Well, I told you before that even though I'm not good at this, I'll listen to your problems if you wish to confide in me." He paused for a moment and looked back down at the bed. "I probably won't be able to help you like Mikasa or Levi could, but I'm willing to try.. For you."

He looked back up at Eren to find the brunet staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help but wonder why, though. It's not like he hasn't told Eren that before.

"If you're really sure–"

Armin didn't let him finish that thought because he quickly said, "I wouldn't be up here if I wasn't sure, Eren."

"O-okay," Eren began. "Well, I should probably start by saying that it's really not all my dad's fault.. I'm just an asshole who can't accept that he's moving on and that he just doesn't exactly have time for me anymore.. But.. He's not perfect either.

"You know, when I came out to my parents, I was 9. I didn't know I was coming out, but a few years ago I realized that there was really no other way to describe me planning my wedding to Levi openly with my parents... 

"My dad never said anything, but I think that that's because my mom wouldn't let him. As I got older, though, I could see how uncomfortable it made him. I think he thought that it was some phase that would go away, kind of like me wanting to be a princess. I wanted that for a while, but I grew out of it after a few years. I guess he thought I'd stop being gay after a while, too..

"When I told him that I was in a relationship with Jean two years ago, he... didn't take it well. At all. He didn't tell at me or try to hit me or anything, but he got drunk and cried. I... I heard him talking to one of my mom's pictures later that night. He was asking her for strength to deal with it. Of course I got angry, though, and I started yelling at him. I was so hurt and mad that he couldn't just accept me the way I was, and I just... went off.

"We started to avoid each other after that. He started to work more shifts at the hospital, and he eventually started to go on dates. He always lied about them, though.. I guess it's because he knew how I'd react... Like I said, I cant accept how fast he started to move on. I mean, they were together for so long.. How could he want someone else?

"Anyway, that's what all that at dinner was about.. He isn't okay with me being gay, and he's a hypocrite. He normally doesn't call me out on shit like that in public, especially not here because he knows how Mikasa's parents are, but he did anyway. I know that I should have left it alone, but I just.. I get so angry sometimes.. I can't help but lash out like that. It's a serious problem, I know, but I swear that I'm working on it and that I'm better than I was a year ago."

Armin sat silently throughout everything that Eren told him, and he stayed silent for a while after Eren was done. 

Some of it hit a bit too close to home for Armin to feel comfortable. What Eren just told him wasn't anything near like what he'd had to go through with his parents, but he wasn't so self involved that he thought that Eren's problems were lesser than his. 

After a few minutes of nothing to hear but the sound of their breathing and the heating unit, Armin finally spoke. 

"You're right... Some of it is just you being an asshole. Your dad has a right to move on if he can. Just because he's dating again, that doesn't mean that he never loved your mother. It just means that he still has room in his heart to love someone else."

He finally looked up at Eren, and he regretted it almost instantly. His green eyes were glossy and red rimmed, and Armin hated the sight. Eren shouldn't have to cry. He should be happy not sad. 

It was then that Armin realized just how strong his urge to make Eren as happy as he could was. What that meant, he didn't know exactly. All he knew was that he never wanted to be the reason for Eren's sadness. Ever.

When Eren looked like he was about to say something, Armin continued.

"I also think that your dad is trying to accept who you are and who you love. Wait, I'm not done.. I don't know him, but I can read people pretty well.. I think he was being genuine earlier when he said he didn't care about what he thought we were but how fast you had moved on. He didn't sound disgusted by us at all. He sounded... sad. Is that right? No, of course not. Should he have to try to accept you? No. He should've always accepted you no matter what. 

"I think that you should talk to him.. See exactly how he feels. Tell him how you feel. Maybe things between you will get better once you actually sit down and talk to each other."

"And if he.. What if he tells me that he really does find me disgusting," Eren asked through his tears. "What will I do then?"

"Well," the blond began, "I'm sure that you could come live here. Or you could just continue on like you are until you graduate and then move out." 

Eren laughed, but there wasn't any humor in it. "I thought you weren't good with this shit."

"I.. I'm honestly pretty shocked that I was able to think of anything to say myself.." He put his hand on top of Eren's and then continued, "It's probably because I went through something a little similar and Annie, Bertolt, and Reiner all talked me through it once."

Before that point, Eren hadn't taken Armin's hand in his. He had just let it sit on top of his. But when Armin had said that he went through something similar, he gripped the blond boy's hand and gave him a wide eyed stare.

"You... You went through shit like this," Eren asked morosely. "With your parents?"

"Do you remember me saying that my dad didn't like me being referred to as 'Ice Princess' when I was a figure skater," Armin asked quietly.

"Yeah.."

"Well, that's because he already didn't want me to skate because he thought that it'd make me gay, but calling me a princess was crossing the line for him.. I guess it didn't help that I told him that I didn't mind being referrer to as a princess, that I actually really liked it.

"He asked me if I wanted to turn into one of those.... 'fags,' and I told him that I was pretty sure that I already was gay anyway, so I didn't care. That.. that was unacceptable. He flipped out on me. He yelled and called my mom and.. And he.. It was just bad, Eren.. 

"I ran away. I didn't go very far.. Annie lived right next door, but I didn't plan on going back. Ever. I was pretty beaten up.. Annie called the cops and my grandfather. My grandfather called my parents to tell them off and inform them that they were going to jail, but thanks to that, they fled and never came back. No one knows where they are, but I'm pretty sure that no one cares.

"Annie told me that no one who could beat up their own child for being different than their ideals were worth it. And wow.. I'm realizing that I told you all that, but they never gave me a talk like this, so I don't know how I knew what to say to you..."

Eren squeezed his hand gently before he threw his arms around Armin, and Eren started to cry harder than he had been before.

"Holy shit, Armin.. I'm so sorry," Eren said between sobs. "I didn't know.. I shouldn't be crying over my dad when yours was an actual abusive piece of shit.."

Armin pushed Eren away. He looked Eren straight in the eye and said, "Listen to me. Just because what I went through was technically worse, that doesn't mean that your problems aren't valid. Okay? I didn't tell you that to say, 'Hey, you think you've got it bad, but you could've had it worse.'"

Armin reached over and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe at Eren's eyes. He was tired of seeing such a beautiful boy cry, and he just wanted him to stop. 

They sat there for a good minute and just stared at each other. Normally, Armin would find the situation uncomfortable, but with Eren, things like eye contact and sharing his past seemed to come easily, naturally to him.

He wasn't sure if he liked that.

After a while, Armin broke the silence and looked away from the bright eyed boy and back at the bed. 

"Look, Eren," said Armin, "I stand by what I said. You should talk to your dad. For now, though, I think that we should probably get some sleep. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah.. that.. That sounds like a good idea," Eren said after finally managing to stop crying. 

Armin got up to turn off the light, and Eren shifted to get under the covers. Once he was settled, Armin flicked the switch and carefully, so as not to trip on anything, walked back over to the bed and climbed in next to Eren. 

He said a quick goodnight, and turned his back toward the brunet before he closed his eyes.

The last thing he heard was Eren's voice as he quietly said, "Goodnight, Ar.. And thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not condone slurs, and Armin was not comfortable using that word either, so please don't hate me for writing it. 
> 
> That was my first shot at detailed angst (& it wasn't even as detailed as it could/should be), and I know that it was probably shit and not very realistic, but I'm trying. I will gladly take suggestions as to how I can improve my writing.
> 
> Also: Yay me for writing more than 1000 words! Even if it is straight shit!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied.  
> Here's more of Thanksgiving week.  
> I'll try to have this caught up to where it should be by Sunday.
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm going to talk about something in here that is a bit... taboo, I guess? I personally don't care for it, but I don't see a problem with it if both parties consent. If that makes you uncomfortable, tell me — Politely, please. A simple "Hey, that one thing you said was too weird, and it made me uncomfortable" will suffice. I will not take kindly to being yelled at —and I'll make sure that it won't happen again.

The next morning, Armin awoke to find someone cuddling him, and it took everything in him not to throw their arm off of his torso and jump out of bed

Who was holding him? Where was he? Why was it so damn bright in here?

Then, like a tidal wave, he was suddenly hit with a sudden recollection of yesterday's events, and he remembered who he was with and what he had revealed to Eren last night. 

Part of him still wanted to be released from Eren's intimate hold on him. He'd only ever cuddled with one other person, and that person was Annie. He knew her. He was 100% comfortable with her. Was that to say that he wasn't comfortable around Eren? No. Definitely not. Being around Eren was easy. And in a way, that's exactly what concerned him. 

He had known Eren for a month. One single month, and yet he was already telling the greed eyed boy about his shitty parents and cuddling. It took him 12 years to be completely comfortable with cuddling Annie. Yet here he was being held by someone he barely met, and he didn't actually mind that much. 

For s fleeting moment, Armin entertained the idea that maybe he didn't actually have that much of a problem with physical contact or being open with others as much as he used to, but he knew that that wasn't the case because he'd be very uncomfortable if it happened to be Mikasa instead of Eren right now.

What did that mean, though? Did it mean that Armin liked him? He thought that it was highly unlikely. He didn't form attachments to or bonds with people that quickly, and the last person he had feelings for stopped talking to him for throwing away his passion for skating back in the eighth grade. 

Whatever it meant, Armin would have to think about it some other time because he heard Eren groan softly as he tightened his grip on Armin's body.

"Good morning, Eren," Armin said. His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"Mmm. Mornin', Ar," he greeted him with a sleepy but happy voice. It would take a deaf person not to hear the smile in the brunet's voice.

He scooted closer to Armin and tightened his grip once more, and it took Armin giving out a small huff and grabbing at the other boy's arm to try pry it off of him for Eren to realize how close they were.

With a start, Eren bolted up into a sitting position and backed away from Armin. He was spluttering out a string of apologies, and when Armin flipped onto his back to get a better look of his younger friend, he couldn't help but let out a small giggle. Eren looked appalled at how he found himself curled up to the blond boy, and his eyes were full of worry.

"Eren," Armin said with a hint of amusement, "you don't have to apologize. You were just cuddling me.. It's not like I woke up to find you sucking me off."

If Eren was slightly appalled before, he was absolutely, 100% disgusted by the image that Armin supplied now. 

"I.. I wouldn't do that!"

"Do what," Armin questioned. "Suck someone's dick while they're sleeping or just in general?" 

"What the fu– NO," Eren exclaimed. "I mean, I would.. But not while someone's sleeping! That's like rape!"

Armin shrugged. "Not if you talked to your partner beforehand. If they're completely and unequivocally alright with it, I see no problem."

Eren stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. He looked so shocked, and Armin wanted to laugh so badly. It was rare that he was the one to actually get to mess with someone like this. All of his friends expected it and weren't fazed by it, but Eren? Eren obviously never even considered that Armin would be okay with talking like this. Maybe it was because Mikasa made that comment about how he didn't like walking in on them during intercourse. 

"How... You'd be okay with that?"

"Me? Oh, of course not," Armin replied. "I just know that some people don't mind being woken up like that. I'd much rather be awake for the entire thing."

"You know," Eren began slowly, "I never thought that you'd be so open about stuff like this.." 

"I can tell," Armin said through a laugh. "I don't mind talking about sex.. I'm just not a fan of talking about my sex life — or lack thereof — and I'm not entirely keen on watching others have sex."

"I.. I don't even really like to talk about it," he admitted. "For some reason, I thought you were the same."

"Oh," the blond asked in amusement. "And why is that?"

Eren glared at him. "You're just fucking with me now, aren't you?" When Armin's smile grew so wide that it hurt, the brunet continued. "This is another thing I didn't really expect from you."

"I've been told I'm a little shit sometimes," Armin replied. "Anyway, sex isn't always intimacy. It's not always hand-in-hand with love, so it's easier for me to discuss. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but Inguess that separating the two make things easier for me.

"And what's wrong, Eren, am I not turning out the way you expected?" 

He was just teasing him, hoping to see him blush or splutter or something, but he didn't expect Eren to take it so seriously.

"I can't do that.. Sex and love do go hand-in-hand for me. If I'm going to fuck someone, it has to be with someone who means the world to me... And that's exactly why Horse Face and I didn't last. After a year, I still wasn't sure if he was the one, so I never gave myself up to him, and he cheated on me.

"And it's not bad that you're catching me off guard... I really don't mind that you're obviously teasing the fuck out of me. It's actually rather refreshing, I guess, and I kind of like that you're not what I had expected."

And there was that blindingly beautiful smile again. 

"Besides," Eren laughed, "this must mean that you're growing more comfortable around me, and I'll gladly accept that."

And just like that, Armin's breath and confidence had jumped out the window and were spiraling down to the ground. Why was he able to do that? How could someone he just me in person for the first time _yesterday_ able to steal his breath with a single laugh and comment?

"I.. I guess it does," the blond said shyly. "Uhh, can I go shower now? I feel pretty gross.."

Eren laughed again, and Armin swore that it was the kind of beautiful sound that angels would open up the heavens to hear.

"You don't have to ask, Ar. The bathroom is right next door, and the towels are in the cabinet across from the sink."

Instead of replying, Armin got off the bed and gathered his clothes before he left the room and went into the bathroom.

\-------------------------

After Armin got out the shower, he went back to the room to let Eren know that he was finished, but Eren was nowhere to be seen when he stepped inside their shared room. He stepped back out into the hall to search for him, and he noticed that the house was pretty quiet.

He found the green eyed boy standing over the stove in the kitchen with Levi. They were laughing and conversing quietly, and Armin wasn't sure if it was right for him to interrupt.

Levi did it for him, though, so Armin didn't even have any time to retreat if he wanted to.

"Gonna stand there and stare all morning," Levi said with more amusement than the bite that he seemed to be going for, "or are you going to come join us?"

Eren turned around to see who Levi was speaking to, and yet again, Armin got to watch Eren's face entirely light up with that damn smile of his. He couldn't quite understand how one person could get so excited to see him, especially when they hadn't even been separated for an hour. 

"Hey, Ar," Eren beamed. "Want some pancakes? They've got blueberries in them, and they're shaped like Iron Man!"

Okay. Maybe he wasn't excited to see Armin. He was just proud of his culinary art skills. That made more sense to Armin, but it also left him feeling like he'd just had his heart fall straight into his stomach. 

"Yeah," Armin said, hopefully without the disappointment that he certainly felt seeping through. "I'd love some pancakes." 

He walked over to the stove where Eren was still standing to get the plate that the brunet offered him, but Eren showed him away and towards the empty chair situated at the small island and to Levi's right. Armin sat down and gave the older, stoic man a small smile that he surprisingly returned, and by the time he looked down, Eren had already placed a plate in front of him.

"I put the syrup there just in case you want it," Eren stated.

"Ah, thank you, Eren," Armin said sheepishly. Levi turned to look at him. 

"Would you like tea or orange juice," asked Eren.

"Umm, orange juice is fine."

As Eren handed Armin his glass of juice, he began to tell Armin about all of the things that he thought they could do while Armin was here. He went on to list activities such as going to the movies, attending a party — which Eren assured him that he wouldn't drink at — and taking a pottery class.

Armin listened to him intently as he ate his pancakes and avoided Levi's intense stare. He couldn't understand why the man even started staring at him in the first place, but he really wished that he'd stop. 

"So which one would you like to do," the brunet asked. Armin looked up at him for the first time since he was handed his juice and saw that Eren looked just as excited as he sounded.

"I'm okay with doing all of them if you really want," Armin said in response. He didn't really want to go to the party at all, but he didn't think that he'd actually be able to turn Eren down, especially not when he was looking at him like he was putting the stars in the sky or whatever.

"Really," Eren shouted. His excitement was palpable, and Armin found that his earlier assumption was correct. There was no way he'd ever be able to deny anything that the brunet suggested or asked of him. He'd do anything to keep that smile on his face.

Armin nodded his head, and Eren loudly celebrated Armin's willingness to go along with his plans. He didn't get to cheer for long, though, because Levi promptly reminded him that there were still people sleeping in the house and that Eren should shut up if he didn't want to invoke Mikasa's wrath.

"Oh," Eren said quietly as if he'd only just remembered the other four occupants of the household, "right... Sorry. Anyway, I'm going to go get ready! We'll decide what to do first when I'm done!"

And just like that, Armin found himself alone with a very amused Levi. Well, Armin assumed that he was amused. The scowl on his face implied that he wasn't, but the mischievous look in his eyes said that he was about to have some fun with Armin.

"So," Levi said, voice giving nothing in the way of confirming what mood he was in.

"Uhh, so," Armin parroted.

"You two just met for the first time yesterday after talking via text for a month, and you're already going on dates," Levi said. If it were someone like Reiner, that would have been a question, but this wasn't Reiner, and Levi seemed to think that he already knew the answer.

"Umm, we're not–"

"I swear," Levi said as he cut him off, "if you say you're not going on a date with him, I'm going to shove that syrup down your throat."

Armin gaped at him for a second before answering. "But it's not a date.. We're just going to hang out."

"Oh, please," he scoffed. "He's obviously got it bad for you. And before you interrupt me with your shitty objections, let me just tell you that I've known him his whole life. I've been there through every single crush he's ever had. Shit, I was the object of his affections for quite a while. He looks at the people he falls for a certain way, and trust me, kid. He's been looking at you like you're the fucking Persephone to his Hades."

Armin couldn't help but laugh at that, but at the sound of his abrupt laughter, Levi just glared at Armin harder than he ever had, and Armin couldn't help but think that he probably wasn't fucking around right now.

"What," Armin asked hesitantly. "Are you serious?" When Levi just continued to stare at him like he was an idiot, Armin continued. "You can't be serious. Sure, Eren's admitted to liking me, but the Persephone to his Hades? Do you even know how that myth goes? He fucking kidnapped her! Anyway, this isn't a date because he didn't specifically say that it was. I'm sure he just wants to get to know me better without the possibility of someone interrupting us."

Levi huffed a laugh and said, "Are _you_ fucking serious? What the hell do you think a date is? And yes, I do know how that myth goes. I'm the one who introduced it to Eren, and I used that particular pairing because it's his favorite. Do you know how it goes? Because she falls in love with him in the end and becomes the queen of the underworld."

"Stockholm Syndrome at its finest is what it is," Armin argued.

"Whatever, kid. They still loved each other."

"What was your point to all this," Armin asked with a little more heat than was probably necessary. "Are you trying to tell me to back off?"

"No," he said calmly. "I'm simply trying to tell you that Eren tends to fall fast, and and he falls hard. If I'm wrong about you — and I don't think that I am — and you don't feel the same about him, then you need to let him know. He doesn't deserve to be strung along like some lost puppy again. He deserves more than that."

"Like you said, we've known each other for a month, and we just met yesterday! I don't know what I want! I need time to figure that out for myself, and whether this is indeed a date or not, I won't be able to commit myself to him like you seem to want me to," the blond replied. 

"I'm not saying that you have to. I'm just saying that if you know by the end of this week, or at any time ever really, that you don't want to be with him, then you need to tell him. I'm just looking out for Eren and his best interests here."

Armin sighed and slumped down in his chair. He understood what Levi was doing and saying, but hell.. What did Levi expect from him? 

Before they could continue their conversation, Eren came flying into the kitchen and grabbed Armin's plate and glass. 

"Would you like more, Ar? There's plenty more pancakes and a shit ton of OJ," Eren offered.

"No, no," the blond replied. "I'm fine. Are you ready? I think that maybe just going to the park would be fine for now, and we could do something you suggested later today. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Eren said as a smile spread across his face. "Lets go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things:  
> 1) I like to think that Armin sees opportunities to fuck with people and seizes them without a moment's thought. He could be in a somewhat shitty mood, but you better believe that he's going to fuck with you for that very embarrassing thing you did five years ago or five seconds ago. Just my little insignificant headcanon.
> 
> 2) There will be no sex in this or any of my fics, and I hope that that's okay.  
> I might reference it or imply it, but I'm not even going to try writing smut because I know I won't be comfortable with it.  
> By uncomfortable, I mean that I'm not confident enough to write about something so intimate, and seeing as I'm not a man, I would be too afraid to write something that I am not familiar with.  
> Also, though I'm guilty of it and see no problem with it as I think that two people of similar ages above the age of fifteen are allowed to decide for themselves when they are ready, I will definitely not allude to two minors having any sexual affairs.  
> Sure, Eren is 17 here, and Armin is 18, but that's one can of Nope that I will not open.  
> All of my notes are unprompted and probably not necessary, but I just want people to know that if you came looking for smut, you won't find it.  
> Sorry.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back to texting again.
> 
> You guys have been so nice to me in the comments.  
> It means so much that you've been taking time out of your day to read my mediocre attempt at fan fiction and to help me grow.  
> Thank you so much. <3

5:15 am - Hey  
5:15 am - I know you like just left  
5:16 am - But I just want to say be careful  
5:16 am - I know you have no control over that but  
5:17 am - Uhh just let me know when you land safely I guess

5:17 am - Thanks, Eren  
5:17 am - I will

5:19 am - :)

11:00 am - attached image

11:01 am - Is that Annie?

11:01 am - Yeah  
11:02 am - And Reiner in the background

11:03 am - Annie looks... excited lol

11:03 am - Oh, she is  
11:04 am - She's a very stoic person, though  
11:04 am - So she doesn't really outwardly show anything she's feeling

11:05 am - Like Kasa

11:07 am - But harder to read honestly  
11:08 am - If you don't know her like I do

11:10 am - Are y'all doing anything special on your first day back home?

11:11 am - Yeah  
11:11 am - We're going to Annie and Reiner's to watch movies  
11:12 am - It's a weekly tradition

11:13 am - That's cute :)  
11:14 am - Well, I'll give you guys time to catch up  
11:14 am - Later, Ar!

11:16 am - Thanks, Eren

\-----------------------

"I can't believe everyone crashed halfway through the second movie," Reiner said with a chuckle.

In all honesty, Armin couldn't believe it either. Well, he couldn't believe that Annie fell asleep already. He could understand why Bertolt was tired because he was, too, but Annie? She wasn't the type to sleep with the TV on.

"So." 

Oh, Armin did not like the sound of that. Reiner was going to want to talk about the trip... which meant he'd want to talk about Eren.

It wasn't that Armin didn't like talking to Reiner about personal things. In fact, after Annie, Reiner and Bertolt were the only other people Armin was completely fine with telling everything to. He just wasn't sure if he really wanted to have this conversation right now. Or at all, really. Armin wasn't good with discussing things like potential love interests or feelings in general, so he just didn't really want to try. And if Reiner was going to ask, Armin was going to try. 

They'd finally stopped fussing over him for not automatically sharing his problems with them, but only because he agreed to be honest with his friends when they asked him about something. And Reiner was about to use that to his advantage. 

_Oh, well_ , thought Armin, _maybe talking to Reiner about this will help me actually figure out what's going on_.

"So," Armin parroted. 

"How was the trip," Reiner asked. He was trying to come across as nonchalant, but that had never been Reiner's strong suit.

"It was great," he replied. "Mikasa's family is wonderful. Even her cousin, who is a bit of an ass, was really interesting. Louisiana's nice, too. The food's better, spicier, but the roads are complete shit."

"Yeah," Reiner snorted, "Mikasa told me once that the roads there weren't too great. Full of potholes she had said, I think." 

Reiner stayed quiet for a minute. He wanted to broach the subject he'd really been curious about, but he didn't want Armin to think he was prying. 

Not for the first time, Armin thought that his friends could be quite transparent.

"Spit it out, Rei. I know you're dying to ask about Eren."

"Then why didn't you save me the trouble and tell me about him in the first place?" He sounded fondly exasperated.

"I don't know," Armin sighed. "Okay, well... I got a lecture from Mikasa's cousin, Levi, about how I shouldn't lead Eren on–"

"Are you leading him on," asked Reiner. His brow was furrowed, and his voice was laced with confusion. "That doesn't seem like you at all, so..."

"I'm not," the shorter blond exclaimed. "I wouldn't! Not on purpose at least." 

Armin sighed and paused for a moment before he said, "I... don't know what to do. Part of me is screaming that I shouldn't like someone I've only known for a month, but the other part is really pissed off that I didn't kiss him when I had a chance."

"So you do like him." It wasn't a question. Reiner sounded like he'd known the answer all along. He probably did.

"I... Yeah, I do." 

Reiner chucked and reached over to ruffle Armin's hair. "You say that like it's a bad thing. It's okay for you to like someone, Armin. It doesn't matter how long you've known them."

"That's what people keep saying," Armin muttered.

"People," Reiner asked. "Who else have you talked to this about?"

"Just you and Bert so far. I told Annie that I think that I like him, but I wasn't entirely sure at the time," Armin replied. 

They sat in silence for a moment as they watched the scene unfold on the screen. They were watching some B-Rated horror movie, and the plot was mediocre at best, but neither of them really felt compelled to turn it off.

"So you had a chance to kiss him, did you?"

"I shared a room with him, Reiner. I had a million chances to kiss him. I just... I didn't want to admit that I wanted to kiss him while I was there."

"And why not?" He sounded genuinely confused. Of his three friends, Reiner was the only one who consistently acted on his compulsive tendencies because he firmly believed that if you want to do something, then you should do it then and there and enjoy it to the fullest.

"Because I... I'm not really sure." 

He turned his attention back to the movie and intended to let that conversation die there. Reiner seemed to catch on to his intentions because he didn't prompt him to speak about it any further, but Armin's brain just wouldn't let him leave it alone. After a few minutes, he found himself asking Reiner something that kind of scared him a bit. 

"Is it bad that I actually really miss him right now, that I wish I could go back to him or have him come here?"

"No," Reiner said thoughtfully but confidently. "There's nothing wrong with that at all.

\-----------------------

7:00 pm - So I went ice skating for the first time in years  
7:00 pm - I forgot how much fun it was  
7:01 pm - Best way to spend my Sunday

7:10 pm - That's awesome!  
7:11 pm - Hey  
7:11 pm - Would you let me send you something for Christmas?

7:12 pm - Like what?

7:13 pm - Well, I'm not telling you  
7:13 pm - I want it to be a surprise 

7:14 pm - Yeah okay  
7:15 pm - I'll call you later to give you my address

7:16 pm - Awesome!  
7:16 pm - I'm so excited about this  
7:17 pm - So how was your day?

7:18 pm - It was pretty okay  
7:19 pm - I'm soooo sore though  
7:19 pm - How was your day?

7:20 pm - Eh, it was okay  
7:21 pm - I'm not going to lie  
7:22 pm - I miss you  
7:23 pm - I hope this isn't weird, but Kasa and I had been planning on me moving up there after I graduate  
7:23 pm - You know  
7:23 pm - Even before I met you  
7:24 pm - Woukd you be okay with that?

7:28 pm - Eren  
7:29 pm - It's your life, so you can do what you want  
7:29 pm - But yeah  
7:30 pm - I'd like that  
7:30 pm - I like spending time with you

7:31 pm - I like spending time with you too  
7:31 pm - :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this.  
> I know the end is probably unsatisfying....  
> But I can't do anything else with this chapter.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are regular updates?

4:30 am - Hey Ar  
4:30 am - You awake?

4:34 am - I am now  
4:34 am - What's up?  
4:35 am - You're not drunk again are you

4:36 am - What  
4:36 am - NO  
4:36 am - I just..  
4:37 am - I couldn't sleep and I wanted someone to talk to

4:38 am - Is everything alright?

4:40 am - Not really  
4:40 am - Can I call you?

4:41 am - Of course

\-------------------------

"Hey, dickhead! It's time to go home!"

Eren didn't understand why he was hearing Jean's voice, but he really, _really_ wished that the asshole would just shut the hell up. Why was he in Eren's room anyway? Last he checked, he specifically told the cheating bastard that he didn't want him anywhere near him outside of school. More importantly, though, why the hell was he saying they needed to go home when that's exactly where Eren was? None of it made any sense.

Unfortunately, the asshole decided that yelling at him wasn't enough because he started to shove Eren in his shoulder after he got no response. That was where Eren drew the line. He sat up and started to yell at the idiot for interrupting his first decent dream in a week but faltered when he realized that he was not in fact in his bed — or even in his home — at all.

"Huh? What the–"

"Did you forget where you were, Eren," Christa asked in her sweet, angelic voice that couldn't quite hide the amusement that she was apparently experiencing at Eren's expense.

"I–"

"Oh, boy," Connie interrupted, "you totally did!" A loud, ugly laugh erupted from the short, dark skinned boy, and Eren couldn't help but shrink in embarrassment. "Holy shit! You were going to rip Jean's head off! I knew it was a good idea to make him do it."

"Yeah, laugh it up, asshole," Jean told Connie with a glare that he probably thought would intimidate the other boy but only ended up making him laugh even more. 

Christa called Eren's name in a soft, concerned voice to get his attention. How she managed to make someone feel so comfortable, so cared for just by saying your name a certain way absolutely baffled Eren, and he was sure that he'd never learn her secret. "Are you alright? You slept in every class today, and you haven't looked very well lately. Have you not been getting enough sleep at night?"

Eren was conflicted. On one hand, he appreciated that someone cared enough to ask, but on the other, he didn't exactly want to divulge that information. He loved his friends and he trusted them all with his life — even Jean, who certainly didn't deserve something as precious as Eren's trust after what he did — but he didn't like to dump all of his problems on them.

Eren wasn't one to complain about his internal conflicts. Sure, he'd occasionally bite off more than he could chew or bottle too much up and have to ask for help, but he typically went to Mikasa or Levi for help. He never had to wonder if he was burdening them with his problems because he knew that they'd be there no matter what, so he tried very hard to only talk to them about the things that he couldn't handle on his own. 

He used to talk to Jean about things, but that flew right out the window when the asshole basically told Eren that he wasn't good enough by sucking face — actually, they did a hell of a lot more than that, but Eren didn't want to think about that — with Marco. Yes, he did still trust Jean, but that didn't mean that he was going to pretend like everything was okay between them just so he could talk shit out with someone. No, he'd stick to the two people that he knew he could rely on, Mikasa and Levi, and no one else.

Then again, when he woke up from that nightmare early this morning, it wasn't either of the Ackermans that he called upon to lend an ear. No, instead he found himself texting the one person who he absolutely didn't want to see the weak side of him, the side that still couldn't get over his mother's death. 

And Armin did the one thing that he almost didn't expect him to do; he answered him, and he chose to hear him out, allowed Eren to bring all his demons to the table without complaint or pity. He supposed that he should have expected nothing less from the blonde, especially after that night that they spoke about their parents, but Eren knew that Armin wasn't good with talking things out. He knew that the older boy typically avoided situations that involved feelings, and he couldn't understand why Armin would put himself in a position that made him uncomfortable for Eren, especially at an ungodly hour. 

"Eren?" An all too familiar voice suddenly broke through and pulled Eren out of his own head, and considering who the voice belonged to, he didn't particularly care for the softness or the pure, unadulterated concern that he could hear laced in their voice. "Are you okay, man?"

"Where'd the others go," Eren asked in confusion. They were just there a second ago, but at the moment, only Jean and Eren remained in the empty classroom.

"When you spaced out after Christa asked if you were okay, I asked them to leave... Told them I'd talk to you," Jean said calmly. Eren could tell that the other boy was walking on eggshells while he tried not to piss Eren off, but it wasn't really working out for him because Eren's temper was slowly but surely about to explode, especially if Jean said something really dumb.

"C'mon, dude," Jean prompted, "you're worrying everybody, even... Even me."

Like that.

Eren took a deep breath and counted backwards from ten. He really didn't want to blow up on Jean right then. There could still be teachers or other staff lurking the halls, and they could still get detention.

"Fuck off, Jean," Eren replied coldly as he started to pack up his belongings in order to get the hell away from school and his ex-boyfriend. He just wanted to get home and go burrow himself under the damn covers. "I'm fine."

The two-toned asshole scoffed — actually scoffed — at Eren's response. "Bullshit." Jean looked at him with what seemed to be a mixture of anger and despair. What that dickface had to be upset about, Eren could only guess, not that he would or anything. "You think I haven't noticed how damn distant you've been this past week?"

Eren couldn't help the wry laugh that escaped him. "Oh, so now that I want nothing to do with your lying ass anymore, you want to actually start paying attention to me?" Finally finished packing his bag, Eren looked up at Jean one final time before he made to shoulder past him. "I don't need you looking out for me, Kirschtein, and I don't need your damn pity."

He made it out the door and halfway down the hall that led to the parking lot before he heard the footsteps that he knew but hoped wouldn't be headed his way. The asshole normally knew when to let something go, so Eren couldn't figure out why Jean wouldn't just drop it.

"Damnit, Jaeger," Jean exclaimed, "I just want you to be honest with me! There's something wrong with you, and you can't just bottle it up like you usually do. You're obviously losing sleep over whatever it is, and that just tells me that the nightmares are back. Talk to me, man. Please?"

Eren stopped dead in his tracks, fists clenched at his sides and jaw clenched tight. He hated that Jean could get a rise out of him. He hated that the bastard knew all the right buttons to push to piss him off in an instant. Most of all, Eren hated that Jean wasn't even trying to make him angry at that moment. But as was the way with them, provocation came so easily and tempers always wound up flaring at the wrong moments. That fact probably would have led to the end of their relationship at some point if Eren never would've found out about Jean fooling around with Marco for the past year.

He slowly turned around to face Jean as he quietly but angrily said, "Oh, like you've been honest with me?" Jean cringed at Eren's question, and Eren couldn't help but feel a bit happy about it. The guy should feel sorry for what he did, for all the pain that he caused. "You lied to me for a year. An entire year, Jean, and you want me to open up and be honest with you about how I'm feeling, about what's going on in my life? Are you fucking serious right now?"

"I.. I made a mistake, okay," Jean said quietly. "I should have told you that I felt something for Marco the moment that I realized it, but I didn't. I fucked up, and I know that. That doesn't mean that I don't give a damn about you and your wellbeing, though, Eren."

Eren made to interrupt him, to stop him from spouting more bull shit, but Jean just continued before Eren could do so.

"I won't stand here and tell you that I still love you because I don't." His voice cracked, and Eren could only gape at him. Was Jean about to cry? "But I do miss you, man. Fuck, do I fucking miss you." The tears that Jean had tried and failed to hold back fell down his long, misery ridden face, and Eren wanted to look away but found that he couldn't.

"Jean–"

"We were best friends since we were three. That's almost our entire lives, Eren. I realize that I fucked you up, that you don't trust me anymore. I know that trust is important to you, and I know that you can't be friends with someone that you don't trust, but.. But.. Shit, Eren!" Jean ran his left hand over his face as he hugged his middle with his right, and his shoulders shook as he openly sobbed in the empty hallway. "I want to try to gain that trust back. I want to try to get back to where we were before we dated."

"Jean, if I'm honest, I still trust you," Eren admitted solemnly. "I think that's one of the things that's fucking me up the most. That and.. That and the fact that I _do_ still love you." Jean let out a muffled sob that still managed to echo in Eren's ears. "I still love you, and I probably always will, but you hurt me. I need... I just need some time, you know? I need time to come to terms with this."

"I... Time is something I can give you."

"You say that like you have a choice," Eren scoffed. His goal wasn't to make Jean laugh, but that's what happened anyway, and Eren hated that the sound of his laugh, the fact that it was him who made the damn guy laugh in the first place, made his heart skip a beat. "Just give me another month or so, and we can play some video games or some soccer or something, okay?"

"Okay," Jean agreed as he finally stood up straight and moved his arms back to his sides. The guy looked like a complete mess, and if the situation weren't so heartbreaking, Eren would make a joke at his expense.

"I'll, uhh, I'll see you in class on Monday," Eren said before he turned back towards the door and started to make his way to the parking lot to meet Mikasa's mother. He was probably late for work with how much time he spent talking to his ex.

"Yeah," Jean replied. "Oh, and Eren?"

"Yeah," he asked as he stopped in the doorway and turned his head to look back at Jean.

"I hope that whatever's got you down lately works itself out," Jean said earnestly. "Don't bottle it up for too long. If you won't tell any of your friends here, then you should at least tell Mikasa or Levi."

Eren sighed as he turned to look out the door and towards where he knew Mrs. Ackerman was waiting for him. "Don't worry about me, Jean–"

"Ere–"

"–I already spoke to someone about it this morning," Eren continued. "That's why I fell asleep in all my classes today."

"Oh," the other boy replied. He sounded a bit shocked that Eren actually talked to someone about his problems, which wasn't entirely uncalled for. "Alright. Bye, Jaeger."

Eren waved his hand over his shoulder and stepped out of the hallway, leaving Jean to stare after him, even long after he had left the premesis.

\-------------------------

7:58 am - Sorry I kept you up  
7:59 am - I hope I didn't make it too hard for you to concentrate in your classes

10:00 am - Actually I just took s sick day  
10:00 am - Bert made a really good point  
10:01 am - I never get sick so I've never missed a day yet  
10:01 am - I'll be fine as long as I check with my professors  
3:27 pm - Are you feeling any better?  
3:28 pm - I know I probably wasn't much help earlier, but I'll always listen when you need someone to talk to.

3:30 pm - No you definitely helped  
3:30 pm - Sometimes I just really need someone to listen to me  
3:31 pm - I didn't necessarily need advice or anything  
3:31 pm - I'm just sorry that I woke you up so damn early  
3:32 pm - And made you miss school  
3:32 pm - Sorry  
3:32 pm - I shouldn't have kept you up

3:33 pm - Eren

3:33 pm - That was stupid of me  
3:33 pm - I won't do that again

3:34 pm - Eren its fine  
3:34 pm - Relax  
3:34 pm - I really don't mind  
3:35 pm - Besides...  
3:35 pm - I know you'd do the same for me

3:37 pm - Thanks Ar  
3:37 pm - You're the best you know that?

3:37 pm - Well, I certainly do try ;)

3:37 pm - No I mean it  
3:38 pm - Wait  
3:38 pm - WAIT

3:38 pm - What?

3:38 pm - DID YOU JUST WINK AT ME??

3:39 pm - Uhhh, yes?  
3:39 pm - Should I not have done that?

3:39 pm - NO ARMIN YOU DONT UNDERSTAND  
3:40 pm - IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO DO THAT BECAUSE I THOUGHT ITD BE CUTE AND FUCK IT WAS

3:40 pm - It was a wink  
3:40 pm - On a phone  
3:40 pm - I didn't even do it in person  
3:41 pm - How was it cute?

3:41 pm - IT JUST WAS ARMIN OKAY??  
3:42 pm - YOU NEVER USE EMOJIS  
3:42 pm - NEVER AND ITS SO CUTE TO SEE YOU DO IT  
3:42 pm - JUST LET ME HAVE THIS OKAY

3:43 pm - Okay  
3:43 pm - You can stop yelling now  
3:43 pm - So how was your day?

3:44 pm - It was... a day

3:44 pm - Do you want to talk about it?  
3:50 pm - Eren?

3:51 pm - I do but it's too much to type  
3:52 pm - Can I call you?

3:52 pm - Of course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where the Eren/Jean scene came from. One minute, I'm thinking of how that phone conversation is going to go, and the next, I'm writing something completely different. Call it self-indulgent if you will.
> 
> Also, Mikasa's mom is super chill, so she let him call Armin while he was working as long as he kept his voice down and didn't ignore customers.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so between chapters 9 & 10, there's about a two month time jump.  
> And there's about two weeks between this chapter and the last one.  
> This isn't exactly a day-by-day fic.  
> If it were, it'd probably take 5000 years to finish it.

7:57 am - It just sucks because I don't understand why I forgave Marco so quickly when he's betrayed me as well

7:58 am - Well, I'm just guessing here, but I think it might be because you've known Jean for so long that you just never expected him to do something like that to you.  
7:59 am - If I dated Annie, and she cheated on me with someone else, I know that I'd be more upset with Annie than the other person.

8:02 am - I just  
8:02 am - What if I'm just overreacting?  
8:02 am - Jean's apologized many times already  
8:03 am - And he's obviously hurting, too

8:03 am - Stop  
8:04 am - You're not overreacting at all.  
8:05 am - He your best friend and your boyfriend. He knew you better than almost anyone else, and he knew what he was doing would hurt you, but he did it anyway.  
8:06 am - He should've told you about his feelings for Marco before he started fooling around behind your back.  
8:06 am - He might be hurt, but you're hurting more, and he needs to just respect that it will take a while for you to even want to attempt to get back where you were before all that.

8:07 am - Don't beat yourself up because you aren't ready to forgive him.

8:10 am - I know  
8:10 am - I just miss him, you know?

8:10 am - I know, but you need to forgive him because you're ready to.  
8:11 am -Not because he's ready for you to forgive him.

8:13 am - Yeah  
8:13 am - Yeah, you're right  
8:13 am - I wish I didn't still have feelings for him  
8:14 am - Maybe this would be easier if I didn't

8:17 am - You can't help who you love, Eren  
8:17 am - You'll get over him eventually  
8:18 am - And you'll find someone who will make you happier than he ever could  
8:18 am - Someone who actually deserves you

8:20 am - I think I've already found the one person who would be able to help me get over him  
8:20 am - But he doesn't deserve me  
8:20 am - He deserves better

8:45 am - Well, I doubt that, but I hope he feels the same way about you.  
8:46 am - You deserve to be happy.

8:50 am - Wow  
8:50 am - That went right over your head, didn't it?

8:51 am - Ummm?

8:57 am - Nothing

9:00 am - You can't  
9:00 am - You can't mean me

9:00 am - And if I do? 

9:03 am - No  
9:03 am - You're way too good for me, so there's no way that I deserve you.

9:05 am - Yeah  
9:05 am - Okay 

9:06 am - I'm serious, Eren.

9:07 am - So am I 

9:10 am You deserve someone better than me.  
9:11 am - I can't even make myself happy, so how would I make you happy?

9:11 am - What kind of logic is that?  
9:12 am - Since when do you have to be able to make yourself happy in order to make others happy?  
9:12 am - Tell me  
9:13 am - If Annie told you that you make her happy, would you doubt her?  
9:14 am - You wouldn't, would you?  
9:14 am - Why is it any different with me?  
9:15 am - Because you haven't known me as long? 

9:17 am - Eren, I'm just not right for you.

9:18 am - How can you say that for sure?  
9:18 am - I may still love Jean, but I know that I've never felt as good talking to him as I do when I talk to you.  
9:19 am - I'm not saying that I love you or anything, but I think that I could.  
9:20 am - I get it if you don't feel the same, but don't brush off how I feel just because you think you're not worthy of love. 

9:23 am - I'm sorry Eren.  
9:23 am - I'm not trying to do that  
9:24 am - I just don't see how I of all people could be the one you could possibly want to be with.

9:25 am - Then just give me time to show you.  
9:26 am - I won't try to court you or anything unless we both want that 

9:26 am - Court?  
9:26 am - Really, Eren?

9:26 am - But I want to be the one to show you just how important and amazing you are  
9:27 am - Just let me do that  
9:27 am - Please 

9:29 am - You can try

9:29 am - I'm not going to try 9:29 am - I'm just going to do it 

9:30 am - Okay  
9:30 am - And I'll try not to take everything you say with a grain of salt

9:30 am - :)

\-------------------------

Group Message: Rogue Squadron (4)

Blue Eyed Beauty - He wants to show me just how special he thinks I am

Fangorn - Eren?

Rainbow Dash - How is that a bad thing?

Galadriel - I'ts not.

Blue Eyed Beauty - It's not..  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I'm just not sure what to think about that

Galadriel - It's pretty obvious

Rainbow Dash - You don't think about it at all  
Rainbow Dash - You just let him do it  
Rainbow Dash - There's nothing wrong with being doted on Armin

Fangorn - We are talking about Eren right

Blue Eyed Beauty - Yes

Galadriel - Yes

Rainbow Dash - Yes Mikasa

Fangorn - Okay  
Fangorn - Just checking

Blue Eyed Beauty - Mikasa?

Fangorn - Hi

Rainbow Dash - What  
Rainbow Dash - You couldn't tell that wasn't Bert?

Galadriel - Not everyone studies his texting habits like you do

Blue Eyed Beauty - No  
Blue Eyed Beauty - But now that you say that, he does typically text correctly  
Blue Eyed Beauty - So I probably should've noticed

Rainbow Dash - Dude types like an old man  
Rainbow Dash - How could you not know when it's not him

Fangorn - True  
Fangorn - I keep telling him it doesn't have to be perfect but he just keeps insisting that it does

Galadriel - He is an English minor

Rainbow Dash - I still don't understand that  
Rainbow Dash - He wants to be a ped nurse but that has nothing to do with English

Galadriel - It doesn't have to make sense to you

Blue Eyed Beauty - Let him do what he wants  
Blue Eyed Beauty - Maybe he might change his mind later on in life and decide to write a book or something 

Fangorn - Its not your minor so don't worry about it

Rainbow Dash - Alright guys I get it  
Rainbow Dash - Back to Eren  
Rainbow Dash - You didn't do anything dumb did you

Blue Eyed Beauty - What?  
Blue Eyed Beauty - What the hell, Reiner?

Galadriel - What he means is, did you just brush off what he was saying as bullshit

Fangorn - Yeah don't do that shit with Eren  
Fangorn - He hates when people just brush off how he feels  
Fangorn - His dad tends to do that sometimes and it kills him

Blue Eyed Beauty - I might have..  
Blue Eyed Beauty - But I didn't mean to!  
Blue Eyed Beauty - But he was talking about how he thought he could fall in love with me and that he thinks that I could help him get over Jean and he said that I deserve better than him  
Blue Eyed Beauty - And I just don't see what he sees in me

Rainbow Dash - What's not to see?  
Rainbow Dash - You're incredible Armin  
Rainbow Dash - If I weren't with Annie I could totally see myself falling in love with you

Fangorn - Bert says ditto

Galadriel - You're just freaking out because you know he means it  
Galadriel - You can't run from him forever  
Galadriel - Evebtually you'll have to admit how you feel about him

Fangorn - How do you feel about him

Rainbow Dash - You know she's right

Blue Eyed Beauty - Yeah I know  
Blue Eyed Beauty - But this is scary  
Blue Eyed Beauty - He's too far away

Fangorn - He's moving here in June  
Fangorn - Were getting an apartment together  
Fangorn - Oh and Bert too  
Fangorn - More importantly though how do you actually feel about him  
Fangorn - I wasn't told anything about you having feelings for him

Galadriel - That's because you tell Eren everything

Fangorn - You wound me  
Fangorn - You really think I'd tell Eren 

Galadriel - Yes

Blue Eyed Beauty - Yeah

Rainbow Dash - Definitely 

Fangorn - Fuck you guys too then  
Fangorn - And fuck bert too bc he agrees with y'all

Galadriel - Did you really expect him to not agree with Reiner

Rainbow Dash - Yeah he and I are on the same wavelength  
Rainbow Dash - We share the same thoughts about everything 

Fangorn - I sure fucking hope not

Rainbow Dash - Oh you know I didn't mean it like that  
Rainbow Dash - Right babe?

Galadriel - Yeah

Fangorn - Bert just told me that he'll be very disappointed in me if I tell Eren anything

Rainbow Dash - Obviously  
Rainbow Dash - This is something that only Armin can decide when to tell him

Galadriel - I'll be pretty fucking pissed too  
Galadriel - It's not your place to tell him shit

Blue Eyed Beauty - Calm down Annie  
Blue Eyed Beauty - Is really appreciate it if you didn't tell him anything Mikasa  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I'm not ready for him to know  
Blue Eyed Beauty - And I don't really think he's ready for that either

Fangorn - How so

Blue Eyed Beauty - He's not over Jean

Fangorn - He obviously is bc he's practically in love with you

Blue Eyed Beauty - He admitted to still having feelings for him  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I don't want to tell him now because I want to make sure that he's not just latching onto me because he misses Jean  
Blue Eyed Beauty - It'll kill me if I do become serious about him only to find out that I was a rebound

Galadriel - I'll fucking kill him if that's the case

Rainbow Dash - Bert and I will help  
Rainbow Dash - Right Bert?

Fangorn - He says yes  
Fangorn - But that won't be necessary  
Fangorn - I'll kill him myself if that's how it turns out

Blue Eyed Beauty - Okay guys  
Blue Eyed Beauty - Tone it down  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I get that you're not being literal but chill please

Galadriel - Sorry

Rainbow Dash - Sorry

Fangorn - Sorry

Blue Eyed Beauty - It's fine  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I have to go  
Blue Eyed Beauty - I have a test to study for

Galadriel - Bye

Rainbow Dash - Bye Arlert!

Fangorn - See ya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Armin's finding it a bit easier to talk about personal shit. Don't get me wrong; it still makes him uncomfortable to do so, but he's trying to change. Sometimes it's easy to talk things out, to give advice, but sometimes you just can't. It's frustrating, but sometimes all it takes is the right person, and your discomfort about something feels like it's not such a big deal. That's how it is for me, and that's how I'm making it for Armin. I hope that's okay and doesn't throw off anything in this fic.
> 
> And no one in the group message picked their own names. Reiner made all of them except for his, and Annie came up with Reiner's.
> 
> Fangorn is also known as Treebeard, the talking tree from Lord of the Rings, and Galadriel is an elf from Lord of the Rings. She's said to be the most beautiful and one of the most powerful among the elves. I'm sure some disagree, but I think that suits Annie.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set around April.

7:13 pm - Oh my gosh

7:13 pm - Did you see them?  
7:13 pm - Do you like them?

7:14 pm - Like them? They're beautiful Eren  
7:14 pm - Is that supposed to be me in the one with the flowers?

7:15 pm - Yeah  
7:15 pm - My art teacher is a big old sap so we had to do a romantic-ish piece  
7:16 pm - I didn't know what to do so I just imagined what it'd be like if I could give you flowers and did that 7:16 pm - I've actually had that one done since Feb but was too nervous to give it to you

7:17 pm - And is that us on the beach?

7:17 pm - Mmhm  
7:17 pm - I had a dream about us going to the ocean together and I just had to paint it

7:18 pm - This is Mikasa  
7:18 pm - You broke him

7:18 pm - What??  
7:18 pm - How??

7:19 pm - He's got his face cradled in his hands  
7:20 pm - It's so cute

7:21 pm - Did he see the other stuff?

7:26 pm - Well now he has  
7:26 pm - And you most def broke him  
7:26 pm - He's crying

7:27 pm - Why? (•o•)

7:29 pm - Because that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me  
7:29 pm - Seriously Eren  
7:29 pm - Thank you so much

7:30 pm - So you liked the poem?  
7:30 pm - And did I get all the snacks right?  
7:30 pm - Oh and what about the book?  
7:30 pm - That was the one you were missing right?  
7:30 pm - Holy shit I sent all that stuff prematurely  
7:30 pm - I should've asked someone about all this beforehand.. 

7:31 pm - Relax Eren  
7:31 pm - Everything is perfect  
7:32 pm - The poem was a surprise because I didn't know that you wrote poetry but it was beautiful

7:35pm - Are you doing anything right now?

7:35pm - Other than admiring your work?  
7:35 pm - No

7:36 pm - :D  
7:36 pm - Can I call you then?

7:36 pm - Why do you even ask anymore?  
7:36 pm - The answer will always be the same

\-------------------------

Not even three seconds after he sent that text message, Armin's phone lit up with the picture he had set for Eren and the name that Eren chose for himself over the Thanksgiving holidays. Apparently just having him in his phone as 'Eren' wasn't good enough; he instead wanted to be called 'Starlord'.

The picture that Armin had set for him was a beautiful one, a moment in time that Armin was so unbelievably happy that he was able to capture forever. They had gone to the park one day while he was at Mikasa's house to feed the ducks and relax, and Eren spent most of the time focusing on whether or not he could get the ducks to eat something right out of his hand. It took him three hours, but a duck finally did what Eren wanted him to do, and the result was so breathtaking. Eren had looked up at Armin and gave him the most radiant smile, and Armin, who luckily had his phone out and camera ready, was able to snap a picture of him before Eren started to do a little victory dance. The lighting in the picture was quite incredible as well, and rays of light surrounded Eren, giving him an otherworldly glow. Armin was proud of that picture, and he admired it often, especially on days that he found himself really missing the comfort of Eren's presence.

Apparently, he had taken too much time to admire and think about the picture because the chorus of the song that Eren picked out to be his ringtone was almost finished, and he realized that unless he answered quickly, he'd miss the call completely. He managed to avoid that, though, with a quick swipe across his screen, and he immediately began to apologize to his friend for taking so long to answer.

He received a breathy chuckle on the other end of the receiver that was followed by, "Relax, Ar. It's fine. What were you doing, though?"

"O-oh, ummm..." Armin didn't know what to say. Eren knew that Armin had set the picture of him from the park as his contact photo, but the blond didn't really want to admit that he was staring at it. He suddenly remembered the ridiculous name that Eren had chosen for himself and decided that he'd take the opportunity to tease Eren about it a bit.

"I was just laughing about the fact that you really dubbed yourself 'Starlord'. I mean, I know you're a Marvel nerd, but really, Eren," Armin taunted.

Eren spluttered, and Armin couldn't hide the small laugh that escaped him. He loved doing things like that to Eren. He could be so easy to mess with.

"You wouldn't let me go with any of the ones I originally wanted," Eren exclaimed once he finally found his voice. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Right," Armin laughed, "and what were those options again?" He continued after a slight lapse of silence, knowing that Eren wouldn't reply, "Oh, right! Jaeger's Got the Booty, Captain Eren, and Humanity's Last Hope? Hope for what, though?"

Eren gave a small grunt and said, "Hey, I don't want to hear this shit from you! Isn't your name in your group chat Blue Eyed Beauty? And Reiner's is Rainbow Dash?"

"Mmhm, but I didn't pick my name. Reiner did," Armin explained. "Besides, I'm Legolas now."

"Wow," the brunet mumbled, "he's really obsessed with Lord of the Rings, isn't he?"

"You have no idea," Armin chuckled. "He's dressed up as an Orc for Halloween every year since we were 14."

"That sounds like Jean," Eren laughed. "He's been Peter Pan every year since we were 5. _Five_ , Armin. He's been dubbed 'Peter Pansy' in my phone ever since we both got them when we were 14."

"Huh... I'm surprised it's not 'Horse Face', but okay," said Armin.

"So, umm.... Speaking of Jean," Eren said shyly, "I agreed to play some video games with him this weekend. I just.. I figured it's been a while, and even though I'm still scared he'll just screw me over in some other way, I miss him."

"Hmm. That's good, Eren."

"For some reason, I didn't think you'd approve," Eren told him.

"And why would I have to approve for you to do something?"

"Because I've admitted to liking you but still feeling something for him?" He said it like a question, like he wasn't completely sure of the answer himself.

"Look, if there were a reason for me to disapprove of this, it'd be because he doesn't deserve your trust and friendship after he betrayed it once, not because I'm scared you'll never fall out of love with him."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Afraid of that?"

"Umm.."

"Never mind. That was a dumb question." Armin heard the crestfallen tone in his voice, and it hurt.

Armin liked Eren. He liked him so much that he was starting to believe that he could possibly fall in love with him one day, but Eren didn't know that. Armin never dropped little hints or gave him thoughtful, romantic gifts to let him know that Armin felt anything more than he let on, and he realized that that might be detrimental to Eren's confidence.

Maybe it was time for him to shed some light on how he felt, to let Eren know that he wasn't the only one who felt something.

"No, no. I just... Yeah, I am a little afraid of that." He heard a sharp intake of breath on Eren's end, and it all suddenly became too much, too fast. "Look, umm, I.. I have to go. Bertolt just asked for help with some homework. Bye, Eren."

"Okay. Bye, Armin." There was a hint of disappointment, but it almost went undetected. Eren sounded.. happy, and that was enough for Armin to know that he made the right choice, even if he didn't tell him in the way he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out differently than I anticipated, and I'm not entirely happy with it. I am happy on some level, but I'm mostly just disappointed in myself. I mean, I'm not that great of a writer to begin with, but it's.. displeasing for me that this probably wasn't my best. I just had to push through it.. No matter how long I thought about it, this was all that I managed to get done, and I'm sorry.
> 
> Umm, self-pity party is over.  
> I'll try to make the next one better.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just for Fun™
> 
> Feedback is welcome.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr if you want:  
> @oikawatooruisking (personal)  
> @titanjaeger (writing)


End file.
